Sonic Freedom Fighters X Super Robot Wars OG
by 9arm
Summary: While travelling in the Sky Patrol, the Freedom Fighters get transported to the world of Super Robot Wars Original Generations. What lies ahead of them?
1. Prologue

_The Freedom Fighters have gotten themselves into an extraordinary situation. While travelling in their headquarters, the Sky Patrol, the group came upon a mysterious wormhole. At that moment, the Sky Patrol was sucked into the wormhole, sending the Freedom Fighters into a new world._

 _What adventure awaits Sonic and his friends? Who or what caused the wormhole? The answers to these questions will be revealed as the Freedom Fighters explore the new world they have been sent to…_


	2. Chapter 1

Sally did not know how long she had passed out. The leader of the Freedom Fighters was slowly regaining consciousness while recalling the events that had occurred. She and the group were travelling in the Sky Patrol back at Mobius. The next thing everyone knew, a wormhole opened up right in front of the Sky Patrol. It then sucked the Sky Patrol along with it's occupants into itself. The Freedom Fighters then felt the Sky Patrol rumble violently and were knocked out by a tremendous force.

"Sally… Sally!" A voice caused Sally to regain her consciousness immediately. As she stood up and surveyed the Sky Patrol's bridge, she saw that her teammates were unconscious. Tails' robot dog, T-Pup, was next to her and appeared to be relieved that Sally was alright. Sally then looked at the source of the voice which woke her up. The source was none other than Nicole the Holo-Lynx, who was projecting herself as a hologram from one of the bridge's terminals.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" Nicole said to Sally. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Nicole," replied Sally. "T-Pup and I will have to wake the rest of us up,"

Sally and T-Pup then proceeded to wake the unconscious Freedom Fighters up. Soon, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, Cheese the Chao, Antoine D'Coolette, Bunnie D'Coolette, Rotor the Walrus, Big the Cat and Froggy regained their consciousness.

"Well, that was one rough ride we had there," said Sonic.

"Ya don't say, Suga-Hog," stated Bunnie.

"Nicole, how's the Sky Patrol?" Rotor asked.

Nicole projected a computerized screen from the terminal which showed an image of the Sky Patrol. "Fortunately, there appears to be no damage on the ship. Currently, we are floating on an ocean and our present location is unknown,"

"What do you mean unknown? Aren't we in Mobius?" said Amy.

"I have a feeling that we are no longer in Mobius," Nicole replied. "We appear to be in an entirely different world,"

"Aside from that, is that an island over there?" Tails pointed towards the bridge's window. Everyone looked at where Tails pointed. Sure enough, not far away from the Sky Patrol is an island with a group of buildings on top of it.

"That doesn't look like one of Eggman's hideouts, right?" said Rotor.

"I doubt it. But, just to be sure, I think we should check it out," said Antoine.

"Antoine's right," Sally agreed. "Plus, we might be able to get more information on where we are,"

"So, shall we get started then?" Sonic said.

"Definitely," Sally turned to Nicole as she spoke. "Nicole, could you take us to that island in front of us? Once we reach there, we'll disembark and explore it,"

"Of course," said Nicole. "Preparing to move the Sky Patrol now," With that, the Sky Patrol began to move towards the island. The Freedom Fighters began to wonder what would come next.

(scene change)

It was a fine morning in the planet Earth. The Earth Federation Izu base, headquarters of the SRX Team, looked peaceful as always. The people inside it were doing their everyday work routines.

However, unknown to them, a mysterious ship was approaching the island the base stood on. The ship was circular in shape and had two white wing-like attachments on it's sides. It was even golden in color and had star shaped patterns beneath it.

The ship was none other than the Freedom Fighters' Sky Patrol.

(scene change)

Joshua Radcliffe and his adoptive sister, Cliana Rimskaya, are standing atop the roof of the Tesla Leicht Institute's main building. The two were thinking about the events they had gone through in the past-The sealing of Perfectio which cost the lives of Ventus and Cliana's other half, Chris, and the fight with the Adamatron, to name a few.

"It's a beautiful day isn't it, Rim?" Joshua asked as he looked up into the blue morning sky. "It would be nice if every day was like this,"

"Yes, brother," said Cliana. "But, perhaps it would have been nicer if father as well as Chris and Ventus were here with us,"

"You still miss them, don't you? Even after all that we went through before," Joshua looked at his sister.

Cliana began to look a little sad. "Yes, I admit I do," she then replied.

"I understand," said Joshua. "But, don't worry too much about that alright? No matter what happens, we'll go through it together,"

Cliana gave a small smile and said, "Yes, definitely. Thank you, brother,"

"No problem, sister," Joshua smiled. "Now, I guess we should head back down to the lab," he added as he started walking.

"Wait a second," Cliana's words stopped Joshua in his tracks. Joshua then saw Cliana looking up to the sky.

"Brother, what is that?" Cliana pointed towards the sky as she spoke. Joshua looked at where Cliana pointed. To the siblings' surprise, a wormhole opened up above them. The next thing they knew, five objects came out from the wormhole and flew towards them at high speed.

"Rim, get back!" Joshua exclaimed as he ran back. Cliana followed Joshua and after the two got themselves into a safe distance, they witnessed the objects crash on the ground in front of them. At that moment, the wormhole closed.

Joshua and Cliana began to stare at the objects in astonishment. It turns out the "objects" that crashed on the ground were not objects at all. They were actually a group of what the siblings thought of as short animal-like beings.

The beings were composed of five individuals. The first appeared to be a red echidna wearing white spiked gloves and a pair of shoes. The second was a lavender cat wearing a purple coat, white tights, white gloves and pink shoes. The third was an orange lynx with black hair wearing a purple gi-like outfit, a conical straw hat, a pair of brown and grey boots and a pair of black and grey gloves with red cuffs. The fourth was a tan lynx with black hair who wore a black gi, a circular straw hat and a pair of brown and grey boots. The fifth was a yellow cat with black hair wearing a red and black dress with white laces and angel wings along with a pair of red and white gloves and a pair of red boots.

"Urgh… That hurt…" the lynx in the black gi said as he along with the other beings slowly stood up. "Are you alright, Storm?" he then said to the lynx in the samurai outfit.

"Yes, I am alright, Lightning," replied the lynx in the purple gi who is now known as Storm. "More importantly, where are we?"

"I do not know," said the lavender cat. "Wherever it is, we are clearly not in Mobius. I can feel it,"

"What do you mean we're not in Mobius, Blaze?" said the yellow cat. Suddenly, she became surprised and exclaimed, "You mean we're in a different world?!"

"Of course we are, Honey," said the red echidna. "Does this look like Mobius to you?"

As the beings talked amongst each other, Joshua and Cliana continued staring at them in astonishment. The siblings could not believe what they were seeing-A group of animal-like beings who were shorter than them and are able to talk. It was something that definitely took the cake for them.

"Anyway, I think we should get a move on and find out where we are," said the echidna. "Staying here won't solve anything,"

"I agree with Knuckles," Lightning said. "We better-" Before Lightning could continue, he began to notice Joshua and Cliana who were staring at him and the other Mobians. "Wait. Who are these people?" Lightning then said while pointing towards Joshua and Cliana.

Soon, the Mobians were looking at Joshua and Cliana. There was a moment of silence. The wind blew for a moment as both sides looked at each other.

"Um… Hi," Honey said to Joshua and Cliana.

"Um… Hi," Joshua and Cliana said to the Mobians.


	3. Chapter 2

The Freedom Fighters were exploring the island which they had just arrived at. They had docked the Sky Patrol at one side of the island before setting foot on it. Everyone marveled at the sight around them while walking in the island. There were many buildings and structures around them.

"Zis place looks technological," Antoine commented. "There does not appear to be any sign of it being owned by Eggman,"

"It doesn't hurt to be cautious though," stated Rotor. "Since we're in an unknown world,"

"Nicole, do you detect anything here which bears a resemblance to Mobius?" Sally took out her handheld and spoke to it.

"I am not picking up anything of that sort," replied Nicole who was in the handheld. "Everything around us is clearly unknown,"

"I hope nothing bad happens…" said Cream who looked a little worried.

"Don't ya worry, Cream," Bunnie assured Cream. "Whatever happens to us, we'll go through it together!"

"Thank you, Miss Bunnie!" Cream replied cheerfully. The Freedom Fighters smiled for a moment after seeing Cream's response.

"Hey, guys, check that out," Sonic pointed towards one of the buildings around the group. Everyone looked at where Sonic pointed.

"What is it, Sonic? There doesn't appear to be anything that catches our eyes," said Tails.

"There's a door there which is left ajar," replied Sonic. He then smiled and added, "You all thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Are we going in there?" Big asked.

"That's right," said Sonic. "What do you all say?"

"I think that's alright," said Sally. "But, we'll all have to be cautious. There's no telling what we might face in there,"

"Word," stated Sonic. "Shall we?" With that, the Freedom Fighters approached the door with caution. Sally slowly placed her hand on the door's handle and opened it slowly. Once the door was opened, the Freedom Fighters slowly made their way into the building. The next thing they saw amazed them.

The Freedom Fighters found themselves in what appeared to be a large hangar. In the hangar, a large red ship was docked in it. As everyone walked towards it, they could not help but look at the large ship in amazement. It was unlike any of the battleships they had seen back in their home planet.

"Thi… This is amazing!" Bunnie exclaimed.

"Magnifique…" Antoine said, his face filled with awe.

"This doesn't look like a ship which the G.U.N. would use, right?" asked Rotor.

"What do you think, Nicole?" Sally said while pointing her handheld towards the ship.

"Hmm… This ship is clearly not of Mobian origin," Nicole stated. "Based on my analysis, the materials used to build it do not appear to be from Mobius. In fact, I'd assume that this ship we're seeing here originates from this world,"

"So, I suppose it would be safe to assume that this world is similar to ours in a way?" said Rotor.

"I'm not too sure about that," said Sally. "We should look around this place more,"

"Sounds great. We might find something more awesome along the way," said Sonic.

"Excuse me," A voice came from the Freedom Fighters' right. They turned to see who was talking to them and began to look at a stranger. The stranger was a man with short brown hair and a brown moustache. The man also wore a white military outfit with black, grey and yellow markings on it.

"May I ask who you all may be?" the man said to the Freedom Fighters. At that moment, the Freedom Fighters began to look surprised.

 _Ah, crap!_ Bunnie exclaimed in her mind.

 _We've been found!_ Tails exclaimed in his mind. _What should we do?!_

The man, seeing the Freedom Fighters' reactions, began to speak. "Now, there's no need to be surprised. I don't know who or what you all are, but, don't worry. You're not in trouble,"

"You're not going to catch us?" Tails asked the man.

"Why would I do that?" the man replied.

"Because we just walked into here?" said Amy.

"Again, there is no need to worry about that," said the man. "Ah, that's right. I haven't introduced myself. I am Major Kai Kitamura of the Earth Federation Army,"

"Earth Federation Army?" Sonic said. "Never heard of that,"

"Oh, you haven't?" said Kai. "By the way, perhaps you all would like to move to a better location for us to talk? I am actually on my way to meet with some friends of mine here. I can take you to them and then you can tell us more about yourselves,"

"Now, hold on a second," Rotor said to Kai. "Aren't you being a little too trusting of us, Major? To tell you the truth, we come from another world and we have no idea where we are. Honestly, I thought if anyone were to see us right now they might sound the alarm or something,"

Kai then replied, "It's true that you all appear to be not of this world. However, you all do not appear to be hostile. That is why I decided not to sound the alarm,"

Bunnie turned to Sally and said, "Whaddaya say, Sally? Should we go?"

After thinking for a short moment, Sally then said to Kai, "Very well. We'll accept your invitation, Major Kai,"

"Alright, looks like we got a new friend here, guys!" Sonic said in his cheerful manner. He turned to Kai and said, "Nice to meet you, Major!"

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you as well," Kai replied. "Now then, shall we?" With that, Kai led the Freedom Fighters out of the hangar.


	4. Chapter 3

Inside a certain part of the Tesla Leicht main building is a laboratory. The laboratory had a few tables with chairs next to them. One part of the laboratory was lined with computer terminals.

At a table which was near the laboratory's door, some people were gathered there. Ibis Douglas, Sleigh Presty and Tsugumi Takakura, pilots of the Hyperion, and Glacies, the former member of the Ruina, were seated at the table enjoying a blueberry pie baked by Tsugumi. Clifford Gygax, the former assistant of Joshua's deceased father Filio Radcliffe, along with Axel Almer and Alfimi were standing next to the table watching the women enjoy their pie.

"Tsugumi, your baking is good as always!" Ibis said happily as she ate her slice of pie.

"You better not eat too much, Ibis. You'll get fat if you do so," Sleigh jokingly said.

"Oh, come on, Sleigh! That's so mean!" Ibis replied, pouting slightly. Tsugumi, Sleigh and Clifford laughed a little at Ibis's reaction. Glacies, Axel and Alfimi just smiled.

"Now, now, Ibis," Tsugumi said. She turned to Clifford, Axel and Alfimi and then said, "By the way, are you sure you all do not want to try some of the pie?"

"Oh, I'm sure. Perhaps later during dinner time," Clifford replied.

"Same here," said Axel.

"Say, Joshua and Rim should be back by now right?" said Ibis. "I wonder what's taking them so long,"

"Yes, they said they were going to ponder over some things at the roof earlier," said Sleigh. "They must be thinking of a lot of things,"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Clifford stated, his expression becoming a little serious. "Those two did go through a lot,"

"That is true," Axel said while closing his eyes for a short moment.

"To lose a father to the likes of my kind…" said Glacies with a saddened expression. "It is indeed saddening,"

"Yes," Axel said. "But, what matters is that we move onward and carve our paths,"

"That's correct, Axel," stated Alfimi.

"Well, aside from the sad stories, I think it's best that you ladies go back to enjoying your pie. Won't want it to be drenched by our tears, right?" Clifford said to Tsugumi, Ibis, Sleigh and Glacies. Everyone laughed a little at Clifford's attempt to cheer everyone up. At that moment, the laboratory door opened and Joshua and Cliana walked in.

"Ah, Joshua, Rim, you are here," Clifford said. "Have you all pondered enough?"

"Kind of," said Joshua. "The truth is there's something I and Rim need to show all of you,"

"Show us?" asked Axel. "What is it?"

"About that…" As Cliana spoke, the laboratory door opened again and everyone soon heard another voice.

"Wow! This is quite a nice place you have here, Joshua, Rim!" Honey spoke as she stepped into the laboratory.

"Hey, wait!" Knuckles said while following her. "Joshua told us not to enter until he says we can!"

Soon, Ibis, Sleigh, Tsugumi, Glacies, Clifford, Axel and Alfimi saw the Mobians walk into the laboratory. As the Mobians went in front of Joshua and Cliana, Ibis and her company were surprised. They could not believe what they were seeing.

"Joshua," Clifford said while pointing to Mobians. "Who are they?"

Joshua then replied, "That's what we wanted to show you,"

"Joshua, Rim, what are these things?" said Ibis. "I mean really, WHAT!?"

"They seem to look like a bunch of _chibi kemono_ *…" Sleigh commented.

[*Japanese. Roughly meaning "little animals"]

"Who are you calling _chibi kemono_?!" Knuckles exclaimed. "We're called Mobians! Not just animals!" Everyone except the Mobians became surprised upon hearing Knuckles speak.

"Axel?" said Alfimi. "Doesn't this being sound like you when you raise your voice?"

"What are you talking about? There's no way this being sounds like me," Axel replied while looking slightly surprised. He then spoke in his mind, _Is what I'm saying right now but, why is it that I get the feeling that Alfimi is right?_ **

At that moment Knuckles who looked at Axel also spoke in his mind, _Wait a sec. Maybe it's me but, doesn't that red headed guy sound like me?_ **

[**Note: Axel and Knuckles share the same seiyuu (voice actor), Nobutoshi Kanna. This is why Axel and Knuckles are questioning about the similarity of their voices]

After a short pause, Clifford cleared his throat. He then spoke to the Mobians, "Anyway, perhaps you all would like to introduce yourselves?"

"Ah, that's right!" Honey said. "How could we forget? Well, I guess I'll start first," Honey then said in an upbeat manner, "I'm Honey the Cat, founder, CEO and designer of the Honey Brand of Clothes and Accessories!"

"You're a fashion designer?" Tsugumi asked Honey.

"That's right!" replied a cheerful Honey. "And my catchphrase is…" Honey then broke out in her trademark routine and added, "…if it's not sweet, you're not wearing Honey!" Hearing this, the humans present in the laboratory gave Honey a curious stare.

After Honey finished her introduction, Blaze stepped forward. "I am Blaze the Cat, princess of the Sol Zone. But, please just call me Blaze. And it is a pleasure to meet you,"

"I'm Knuckles. Good to meet you," Knuckles introduced himself. Storm and Lightning took off their straw hats and held them after Knuckles introduced himself.

"I am the head of the Raiju clan of ninjas, known as the Bride of the Conquering Storm. You may call me Storm," Storm said. She then added, "With me is my right hand man and husband, Lightning Lynx,"

"It's good to meet you," Lightning said.

"Hmm… You're quite an interesting group," said Clifford to the Mobians. "I'm Clifford Gygax. And with me are Ibis Douglas, Sleigh Presty, Tsugumi Takakura, Glacies, Axel Almer, Alfimi, Joshua Radcliffe and Cliana Rimskaya,"

Once the introductions were over, Glacies then said to the Mobians, "I heard one of you say that you all were called Mobians. Are they a kind of being from another world?"

"You are correct," said Blaze. "We come from a planet called Mobius. In fact, we have been dragged into this world by an unknown force,"

"Could you explain your current circumstances?" Glacies asked.

"I will. However, what I am about to explain might be beyond your comprehension," said Blaze.

Hearing this, Clifford smiled and said, "Try us,"

(scene change)

In a meeting room located in the Earth Federation Izu base, the SRX Team's members were seated at the room's large table. Tetsuya Onodera, captain of the Hagane, along with Eita Nadaka and Adzuki, were seated with the team as well. Ryusei and Tetsuya were drinking some water while talking with the rest of the group about their current circumstances.

Apparently, Major Kai had called for the whole of the SRX Team to meet up with him at the Earth Federation Izu base for an important matter. Kai stated that it was a bit sudden but, he promised to explain everything properly once he met up with the SRX Team.

"I wonder what Major Kai wants to talk with us about," Ryusei Date stated. "And he seems to be taking his time,"

"Since Major Kai said it was an important matter, we shouldn't ignore it," said Raidese F. Branstein.

"I hope it's not too serious a matter," stated Mai Kobayashi.

"Regardless of what the matter is, it is important that we stay calm," said Tetsuya.

"Captain Tetsuya is correct," said Viletta Vadim, head of the SRX Team. "Let us wait for Major Kai and hear what he needs to say," As Viletta finished speaking, Major Kai stepped into the meeting room.

"Ah, Major Kai, it's good to see you again," Tetsuya greeted Kai.

"It's good to see all of you as well," Kai greeted everyone in the room. "Now, I know I am to explain the important matter which I mentioned to all of you before. However, before that, there is something I need to address first,"

"What is it?" Raidese asked.

"Regarding that…" Kai paused for a moment before he continued speaking. "…it might be something that might surprise all of you,"

"Why do you say that?" Aya Kobayashi, Mai's sister, asked.

"You'll soon see," Kai said. He walked to the meeting room's door causing it to open. Kai then turned to look at someone outside the meeting room and said, "You may enter," At that moment, the Freedom Fighters walked into the room. This caused the SRX Team, Tetsuya, Eita and Adzuki to be shocked.

"Amazing!" Sonic was the first to walk into the room. "This is quite a nice place you have here-" His words were cut short when he saw the shocked looks on the faces of the SRX Team's members, Tetsuya, Eita and Adzuki.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked the shocked people.


	5. Chapter 4

The SRX Team, Tetsuya, Eita and Adzuki had seen many unbelievable things throughout their adventures. There were the Aerogaters, Einst, Shura and Ruina to name a few. And not to mention Euzeth Gozzo, the being whom they had fought in their previous mission.

However, this time, what they saw took the cake for them. Right in front of them was a group of animal-like beings which they had never seen before. In fact, Ryusei and Tetsuya were so shocked they spat water out of their mouths.

"M-M-Major Kai?!" Eita exclaimed. "Just who or what are these things?!"

"They… They look like a group of _chibi kemono_ …" commented Mai.

"We're not just animals!" Cream suddenly said to Mai in an irritated manner. "We're called Mobians!" As she finished speaking, Cream became surprised. She then quickly said politely, "Ah, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to burst out like that! I was just surprised at your comment, miss!" The Freedom Fighters save Cream herself sweatdropped at her reaction to Mai's words.

"Is this what you wanted to address us about, Major Kai?" asked Raidese.

"Yes," replied Kai. "I came upon these beings in the Hagane's hangar on my way here. Anyway, shall we introduce ourselves to them?"

"Y-Yes, that'll be fine," Tetsuya said as he and his company regained their composure and stood up. He then spoke to the Mobians, "I'm Captain Tetsuya Onodera of the Hagane. It's… a pleasure to meet all of you,"

"I'm Eita Nadaka, a bridge operator of the Hagane," said Eita. "A pleasure,"

"I'm Adzuki, also a bridge operator on board the Hagane," said Adzuki.

"I'm Ryusei Date, member of the SRX Team of Personal Trooper pilots," Ryusei then said. "With me here are the team's captain, Captain Viletta Vadim and my teammates, Aya Kobayashi, Mai Kobayashi, and Raidese F. Branstein, Rai for short,"

"You two are sisters?" Rotor asked Aya and Mai.

"Why, yes, Mr…?" Aya said.

"Rotor. And there's no need to call me Mr.," replied Rotor. "With me are my teammates. There's our leader Sally Acorn…"

"Nice to meet you," Sally greeted.

"…Sonic the Hedgehog…"

"Hey, guys!"

"…Tails and his robot dog T-Pup…"

"Hello," After Tails spoke, T-Pup barked happily as a way of introducing itself.

"…Amy Rose…"

"Hi!"

"…Cream and Cheese…"

"Hello, it's nice to meet you,"

"Chao, chao!" Cheese gave a happy greeting.

"…Antoine D'Coolette and his wife, Bunnie D'Coolette…"

"Bonjour,"

"Howdy, y'all!"

"…Big and his best friend Froggy…"

"Hello," Big said while showing Froggy to the SRX Team and their company.

"…and last but not least we have…" Hearing this, Sally took out her handheld and attached a Power Ring to it. Then, much to the astonishment of the humans, Nicole emerged from the handheld and materialized into her physical body.

"Pleased to meet you," Nicole then said. "I am Nicole,"

"W-What just happened?!" Ryusei asked in a surprised tone. "Did she just come out of thin air?!"

"Could it be a ghost?" Eita asked. The Freedom Fighters laughed upon hearing Eita's remark. "She's not a ghost," Sally said as the Freedom Fighters stopped laughing. "Nicole is actually an A.I. who supports us in our adventures,"

"An A.I?" said Mai. "You mean like a hologram?!"

"That's correct," Nicole stated. "However, I do not just appear as a hologram. I also possess the ability to manifest a physical body of my own as you all have witnessed now. On top of that, I am able to converse normally like a living being,"

"How is that even possible!?" Aya stated. "For an A.I. to be this advanced…"

"Nicole's special," Tails said. "The truth is when she was first created she was only able to think logically like a machine. However, she was able to overcome that and developed her own personality,"

"Is that true?" Viletta asked.

"Tails is correct," Nicole said.

"That's amazing!" Ryusei said excitedly. "Truth is I've only seen super advanced A.I. in the movies. But, to think that I would be seeing one right here… This is awesome! You're definitely something, Nicole!"

"Why thank you, Ryusei," Nicole smiled.

"Oh, that aside," Ryusei said as he looked at Bunnie. "Say, I couldn't help but notice that your left arm and legs look somewhat metallic. Are they robotic limbs?"

"Yer correct, Ryusei," said Bunnie. "In fact, ah'm actually half robot, half rabbit,"

"Wait a minute…" Eita said to Antoine. "Your wife… is a robot?"

"Zat's one way to put it, Monsieur Eita," Antoine replied. At this, Ryusei and Mai became highly shocked.

 _HE'S MARRIED TO A ROBOT_ _?!_ Ryusei and Mai shouted out loud in their minds.

"You have a robot as your wife?!" Ryusei said to Antoine. "Y-You're joking right!?"

"Non, Monsieur Ryusei," Antoine replied. He then frowned and added, "Why do you ask?"

"Well…" Ryusei began to sound slightly hesitant. "If you're going to have children, it might be a bit hard to do so. Right?" Antoine and Bunnie began to blush and had stunned looks on their faces after hearing Ryusei's words. Seeing the married couple's reaction, some of the Freedom Fighters tried to stifle their laughter.

"A-A-Absolutely not!" Antoine stated, his voice a mixture of shock and embarrassment. "My wife and I have our own ways of doing so!" He turned to Bunnie and said, "R-Right, mon cheri?"

"D-Definitely, Suga-Twan!" said Bunnie. As soon as everyone finished speaking, Kai cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"I hate to interrupt your lively conversation but, perhaps you all might want to explain how you got here?" Kai said to the Freedom Fighters.

"Oh, yes, we should. It appears we got carried away by our conversation," Sally said. She then turned to the SRX Team's group and said, "I believe we should explain more about ourselves,"

"Please go ahead," said Tetsuya. "We'll be listening," Sally proceeded to give a brief overview of Mobius and the Freedom Fighters. She then told everyone about how she and her team ended up being transported away from Mobius into the SRX Team's world.

"So, Ms. Sally, to put things simply, you and your team arrived here via your own ship due to the workings of an unknown force?" Tetsuya asked Sally.

"That is correct. And it's alright for you to just call us by name," Sally said.

"Alright, then, Sally," said Tetsuya.

"Speaking of ships, we saw a great looking one earlier. Was it that Hagane thing you mentioned earlier, Captain Tetsuya?" said Rotor.

"That's right. As I mentioned earlier, I am it's captain. The Hagane is the ship which the SRX Team uses when they go on missions," Tetsuya said.

"By the way, captain, Ryusei said something about a Personal Trooper. What is that?" said Amy.

"Ah, yes. Forgive me for not explaining about that earlier. In fact, since you have explained about your world, it's fair that I explain about mine as well," Tetsuya replied.

"Do please tell us," Sally said. With that, Tetsuya explained to the Freedom Fighters about the Personal Troopers and how they had been used to defend Earth from various threats as well as to calm wars.

"Zis… Zis is unbelievable!" Antoine commented on Tetsuya's explanation with a mixture of surprise and fascination.

"Fascinating," Nicole said. "Our world has robots of it's own but they are not like the kind which you have just mentioned, Captain Tetsuya,"

"What do they look like?" said Ryusei. "Are they awesome or what?"

"Well, yes, you could say that," said Rotor. "In fact, we've fought them before,"

"You have?" asked Mai.

"You bet!" Sonic stated. "Every time we go crash Eggman's plans or something we'd mostly encounter one or more of his robots. Pretty cool you know,"

"It must be hard being a Freedom Fighter…" mentioned Aya.

"Oh, we go through lots of dangerous things all the time. There are ups and downs but, we're able to manage," Sally said.

"Besides, we're the Freedom Fighters! We can handle anything!" said Amy.

"Say, can I ask where your ship is?" Ryusei said to the Freedom Fighters.

"Oh, it's docked at one side of this island. Why?" Tails said.

Ryusei then replied enthusiastically, "Well, I know this is a bit sudden but, can I have a tour of your ship? I'd love to see and take pictures of it. Plus, in exchange for giving me a tour of your ship, I'll show you all the SRX Team's Personal Troopers. What do you say?"

"You seem really eager to see our ship," Rotor said.

"That's because Ryusei is an _otaku_ of sorts when it comes to machines," said Raidese.

"Oat-tack-you?" Big said. "Is that some kind of food?" Mai chuckled upon hearing Big's words.

"Oh, no, Big, it's basically a word which means being a big fan of something. At least that's how Ryusei defines it…" Aya said.

"And when it comes to machines, Ryusei can get a little too excited," Raidese gave Ryusei a wink as he spoke. "Which is why I have to babysit him at times so that he doesn't get too excited,"

"Oh, come on, Rai!" Ryusei said to Raidese. "Do you have to say that!?" Aya laughed a little when seeing Ryusei's reaction.

"Well, giving Ryusei here a tour of the Sky Patrol would be fun. What do you say, guys?" Sonic said to his teammates.

"I don't mind at all," replied Sally.

"I agree with Sally. In fact, I would definitely like to see what the Personal Troopers look like," stated Nicole.

"I would like to see the Sky Patrol as well," Tetsuya said. "In fact, the Freedom Fighters may dock their ship into one of the hangars here,"

"For real?" Tails said. "You don't mind at all?"

"Absolutely not," Tetsuya smiled. "This way, all of us will be able to tour the ship,"

"Alright!" Sonic said enthusiastically. "The more the merrier!"

"Then, it's settled!" Bunnie said happily. "Let's give our friends here the tour of a lifetime!"

"Bon! I agree with Bunnie!" Antoine agreed with his wife.

"Also, on a side note," Tetsuya said to the Freedom Fighters. "We will do everything we can to help all of you return to your home world," He then added while smiling, "But, for now, welcome to planet Earth,"

"Thank you very much, Captain Tetsuya," said Sally.

"Now, then, let's get the show on the road!" Sonic exclaimed happily.

"OKAY!" The Freedom Fighters exclaimed excitedly while raising their fists up into the air.


	6. Chapter 5

The kingdom of Riksent is currently at peace. It's people are carrying out their everyday lives. For now, the kingdom is not facing any major threats unlike during the time of the Neo Divine Crusaders' occupation of Riksent itself.

In the kingdom's city, Princess Shine Hausen, Riksent's leader, was walking around the city's streets with two companions. They are Sanger Zonvolt and Elzam V. Branstein, also known as Ratsel Feinschmeker. As the trio walked the streets, people greeted Shine and she greeted them back in return.

In truth, Sanger and Elzam are not accompanying Shine merely for leisure purposes. They are to guard Shine in case something happened to her. This is because recently, Shine had received premonitions of a dreadful event. Hearing this news, Sanger and Elzam decided to drop by Riksent to guard her. Additionally, Elzam had contacted Kai to seek the latter's help in gathering more people to guard Shine and her kingdom.

"Are you feeling alright today, Princess Shine?" Elzam asked Shine who was just greeting a child waving at her.

"Yes, Ratsel. Aside from the premonitions, I am fine," replied Shine. "But, I thank you for your concern,"

"We must not let our guard down," stated Sanger. "Given our past experiences, the chances of danger befalling Princess Shine and Riksent are high,"

"You are correct, my friend," replied Elzam. "But, let us not worry too much," Elzam pointed towards a café. "Shall we perhaps lighten the mood with some tea? I heard that the tea in that café is quite satisfying,"

"Oh, yes, that would be a great idea," Shine smiled. Sanger nodded in approval with Elzam's words. The three then walked towards the café. As they walked, a man in dark clothes approached them from the front. Suddenly, the man pulled a gun out and pointed it towards Shine!

"Princess Shine, look out!" Elzam said as he and Sanger quickly moved in front of Shine to protect her. The people who saw what was going on became horrified. As the armed man was about to fire his gun, two short figures wearing brown hooded robes over their clothes appeared behind him and kicked the back of his legs. This caused the assailant to fall down. Though surprised at the current turn of events, Sanger and Elzam wasted no time. They quickly pinned the criminal down to the ground while Shine called for the police.

"It's rude to point a gun at a fine lady, mate," said the first figure as he and his companion stood in front of the criminal.

"Who the **** are you?!" the criminal shouted at the two figures while struggling with his captors. "You dare interfere with my killing?!" As soon as he finished speaking, the other figure took out a mechanical-looking sword and pointed it towards the criminal's face. At this, the criminal was surprised and became silent.

"If you struggle any further, we will have no choice but to subdue you with much more force," said the figure with the sword. "For now, stay still and wait for the police to pick you up," Soon, the police arrived and took the criminal away. After that, people cheered Sanger, Elzam and the two figures for protecting Shine. As the people cheered, Sanger, Elzam and Shine approached the figures.

"Thank you for what you had done earlier," Shine said to the figures. "But, who are you two?"

"The pleasure is mine, luv," said the first figure who had a metallic rod kept at his back. "And we are just a pair of passersby,"

"I do not mean to be direct but, would you please take off your hoods? We would like to see your faces," Sanger said to the two figures.

"Yes, of course," said the second figure. The two figures brought their hoods down, revealing their faces. Shine, Sanger, Elzam and the people around them were surprised upon seeing the figures' faces. The first figure appeared to look like a black and white skunk with white hair. The second figure looked like a squirrel and had auburn hair.

"Who… are you?" Shine asked the figures. The figures turned towards Shine after she spoke.

"I'm Elias Acorn. Call me Elias," said the squirrel.

"And I'm Geoffrey St. John," the skunk smiled. "It's a pleasure, luv,"

(scene change)

At the SRX Team's headquarters, the Freedom Fighters were giving the SRX Team, Kai, Tetsuya, Eita and Adzuki a tour of the Sky Patrol. During the tour, Ryusei enthusiastically took pictures of every single part of the ship much to the amusement of everyone.

After the tour, the Freedom Fighters were given a tour of the SRX Team's ship, the Hagane, as well as shown the team's Personal Troopers. Sally, Tails and Antoine were even offered to try out the simulators used for piloting Personal Troopers which they did. Once the tours were over, everyone headed to the cafeteria in the SRX Team's HQ for lunch. As they ate, the group chatted among each other.

"How did you like the Sky Patrol, Ryusei?" Rotor asked.

"It was amazing!" Ryusei replied. "Your ship has almost everything a man would dream for! A simulation room, a comic book and video game room, surfboards that fly in the air… I think the Sky Patrol would leave a man speechless!"

"I would say the same thing for the Personal Troopers," commented Nicole. "In fact, upon seeing them with my own eyes, I cannot help but feel fascinated. Their designs are in such a manner that they match the personality of their respective pilots. Just looking at them alone would make one think that the Personal Troopers are perfectly attuned with their pilots. I must say that the Personal Troopers are truly an outstanding work of technology,"

"Woah, Nicole! Yer on a roll right now!" Bunnie said.

"Just sharing the wondrous results of my analysis," Nicole smiled.

"Looks like you've got another _otaku_ friend here, Ryusei," said Raidese.

"Well, yeah you could say that," said Ryusei. "By the way, I just had a cool idea,"

"An idea?" Aya asked.

"Wouldn't it be cool if the Sky Patrol could transform into a robot?" said Ryusei.

"A robot?" the Freedom Fighters spoke in unison. They soon imagined in their minds the Sky Patrol turning into a robot and blasting the Eggman Empire with it's weapons. After they finished imagining things, the Freedom Fighters sweatdropped.

"That might be a bit too much…" stated Tails.

"Err… Oh, I see. Anyway, I was just saying," said Ryusei.

"I got to hand it to you, Ryusei," said Rotor. "You've got quite a good imagination,"

"Hey, thanks, Rotor," Ryusei and the Freedom Fighters laughed a little.

"I see that you all are having fun," stated Kai. "Now, if you all do not mind, I would like to share with everyone here about something important,"

"Is this regarding the matter you wanted to tell my team about?" said Viletta.

"Yes and the Freedom Fighters may want to listen to it as well. That is, if they do not mind doing so,"

"Oh, we don't mind," Sally said.

"What is it that you want to tell us anyway, Major?" said Sonic. Kai paused briefly before he spoke.

"Recently, I had been informed by Ratsel that Princess Shine is having another series of bad premonitions. Ratsel asked me to gather people to head to Riksent in order to ensure nothing happens to the princess," Kai turned to the Freedom Fighters. "And for your information, Princess Shine is the leader of the kingdom of Riksent. It is a kingdom which I along with the SRX Team and several friends of ours have gone to before,"

"So, we're going to see a princess?" Amy looked amazed.

"Correct. Two of our friends, Sanger Zonvolt and Ratsel Feinschmeker, are already in Riksent. Before we toured the Sky Patrol and Hagane, I had also contacted the ATX Team, the crew of the Hiryu Kai as well as some people from the Tesla Leicht Institute and requested them to go to Riksent,"

"And you also would like to request for the SRX Team to go to Riksent, Major?" asked Tetsuya.

"Precisely, Captain Tetsuya," said Kai.

"For my brother to make such an arrangement, this is clearly a matter which cannot be ignored," Raidese stated.

"Who's your brother, Mister Raidese?" said Cream.

"He is referring to Ratsel. Ratsel is only an alias. His real name is Elzam V. Branstein," Nicole's statement surprised the SRX Team.

"How did you know that?" Aya asked Nicole.

"My apologies. During our tour earlier, I took it upon myself to download information about the SRX Team and their friends from the Hagane's database," Nicole replied.

"But, how could you possibly do that?" Eita asked.

Nicole showed her handheld to the group. "This handheld is able to download data into itself as well as transfer the said data into my consciousness. Aside from that, I hope you do not view my action as a form of intrusion, Captain Tetsuya,"

"Oh, no, Nicole," said Tetsuya. "In fact, I must admit it was impressive,"

"Well, she is a super A.I…" said Mai.

"That aside, to put things simply, Major Kai, you want us to help you along with your friends to protect Princess Shine?" Sally said.

"As a matter of fact, yes," replied Kai. "But, perhaps this might be a bit too sudden for you and your team, Sally. You all might feel bothered for having me to push this matter into your hands. Especially since you all need to get back to your home world quickly…"

"Bothered? Don't worry about it! We're alright with this!" said an enthusiastic Sonic.

"Yeah! I'd like to see what the kingdom of Riksent is like!" Amy spoke happily.

"Plus, it will be nice to meet this Princess Shine in person," said Rotor. "We also have a princess in our team," The SRX Team and their company became puzzled.

"Who… are you referring to?" asked Tetsuya.

"That would be me," said Sally. "I didn't tell you this earlier but, I'm actually a princess myself,"

"For real?" Ryusei was surprised.

"Zat is correct, Monsieur Ryusei," said Antoine. "She is ze princess of ze Kingdom of Acorn, led by her father, King Maximillian Acorn,"

"That's amazing!" Adzuki exclaimed.

"It is an honor to meet you then, Your Highness," Raidese said to Sally.

"There's no need for formalities," smiled Sally. "Like I said, just call me and my teammates by name,"

"Really? Very well, then," said Raidese.

"So, when do we leave for Riksent?" asked Tails.

"Shortly after we're done here," said Kai. "Also, just for you all to know, the ATX Team and Hiryu Kai might arrive at Riksent later than us as they are busy with work. In addition, the trip to Riksent will take a few days,"

"Understood," said Tetsuya. "Does anyone have things to clarify regarding the trip?"

"Excuse me," said Adzuki. "I actually have something to ask though it's not related to Riksent…"

"What is it?" asked Tetsuya.

"This question is for Tails," Adzuki looked at Tails. Even the Freedom Fighters looked at their vulpine friend.

"Me?" Tails frowned.

"Yes, it might be a little embarrassing though…" Adzuki began to look a little hesitant.

"You can ask anything, Miss Adzuki," said Tails. "I'm all ears," Hearing this, Adzuki paused for a minute before she posed her question to Tails.

"Can I touch your tail?" The Freedom Fighters looked at Adzuki and blinked their eyes twice.

"Huh?"


	7. Chapter 6

Some people believe that there are many worlds, each having an inter-dimensional link between each other. It is also believed that between each of these worlds lies a 'rift'. The rift is an empty purplish space in which people or beings enter when travelling between the different worlds.

In a certain part of the rift, an alien-like being is floating in the rift's space. The being was humanoid in shape. It's body was clad in purple and white biomechanical armor formed over green vine-like cables emanating from a central core within. The plating on the being's armor resembles the heads of demons, giving the said being a demonic look.

The being raised one of it's hands up, conjuring a set of seven emerald-like objects which floated in front of him. The objects emitted a radiant light. However, for an unknown reason, the objects appeared to be slowly losing their light. It was as if something was taking away the objects' light.

"These emeralds…" the being spoke in an ominous voice. "Such beauty they have. And such power… I can feel their power coursing into my body," The being had the emeralds he conjured disappear into thin air.

"Soon… the power of these emeralds will be completely absorbed into my being. And in turn, I shall return to my former glory…" The being moved forward. It then stopped after travelling a short distance.

"Perhaps, I should test out what I can currently do now…"

(scene change)

There was once a Mobian named Elias Amber. He was born in a certain village in Mobius and led an ordinary life. That was until one day when he was helping his father do some chores in his home, images began flowing into his mind. Overwhelmed, Elias collapsed. His parents quickly took him to the village's local doctor to determine what had happened to their son.

When Elias woke up, he realized who he truly was. He is Elias Acorn, the brother of Sally Acorn, thought to have no longer existed ever since Mobius was rewritten by the Super Genesis Wave. Additionally, he is even aware that the world in which he lives in has been rewritten and he possesses the memories of his life in Mobius's previous reality.

It is unknown as to how it is possible for Elias to obtain the memories of his previous life. However, after attaining the said memories, Elias decided to travel around Mobius to see the changes in his home world. Though his parents were concerned, they allowed him to go with their blessings.

In one of his travels, Elias met a person whom he did not expect to meet. This person was none other than Geoffrey St. John. When the two first met, Elias was cautious given his history with Geoffrey. However, much to Elias's surprise, Geoffrey did not know him. On top of that, when Elias asked Geoffrey whether the latter worked for Ixis Naugus, Geoffrey stated that he did not know who that was.

Elias soon realized that Geoffrey did not possess the memories of the previous reality unlike the former. Through a series of circumstances, Elias and Geoffrey became partners and travelled around Mobius together. During their adventures, Elias learns that Geoffrey is not just a skilled fighter. He is also quite the womanizer…

One day, as the duo was travelling, a wormhole appeared above them. They were sucked into the wormhole, transporting them away from Mobius. Elias and Geoffrey then ended up in a different world. As they explored their new surroundings, they came across a city. Entering it, they learned from the city's locals that they were in a kingdom.

It was called the kingdom of Riksent.

In the city they had just set foot in, Elias and Geoffrey helped to apprehend a criminal who was about to shoot a certain woman. That woman was Princess Shine who at that time, was accompanied by Sanger and Elzam. Elias and Geoffrey were then taken to the royal palace in Riksent so they could explain their circumstances to Shine, Sanger and Elzam.

After Elias and Geoffrey explained about their arrival at Earth, Shine allowed them to stay in the palace and offered to assist the two in returning to Mobius. The duo was even told by Sanger and Elzam about the princess's premonitions. Hence, Elias and Geoffrey decided to help Sanger and Elzam in protecting Shine.

A few days have passed since Elias and Geoffrey's arrival at Riksent. Currently, Shine is sitting at a table in the royal palace's courtyard with Sanger, Elzam, Elias and Geoffrey. The humans and Mobians were talking with each other about their respective worlds over a cup of tea.

"I must say," Geoffrey said to Shine. "This kingdom you have here is quite fascinating, Your Highness. In fact, if I may say, it is as beautiful as you," Princess Shine blushed at Geoffrey's words.

"I-Is that so?" Shine replied. "Thank you for your compliment,"

"My pleasure," Geoffrey gave a smile.

"You shouldn't talk like that to the princess, Geoffrey. You'll embarrass her," said Elias.

"I was only telling the truth," Geoffrey replied.

"That aside, the technology in this world is something. I never thought I'd see those Personal Trooper things. Mobius has robots of it's own but not as huge as the Personal Troopers," said Elias.

"What is Mobius's technology like?" asked Elzam.

"Well, to put it simply, it's something like your world's. Except that it's more advanced," stated Elias.

"And your world is inhabited by Mobians and humans?" Sanger asked.

Elias gave a nod. "That's correct, Sanger,"

"Pardon me, but, we should be going to greet your friends soon, no?" Geoffrey spoke to the humans. "The SRX Team and people from the Tesla Leicht Institute I mean,"

"Yes, in about fifteen minutes," Elzam looked at his watch. "I mentioned this before but, just to brief you all once more, the ATX Team and Hiryu Kai will arrive here at night due to their busy schedules,"

"Basically, after the SRX Team and Tesla Leicht's people arrive here, we will be waiting for more of your friends," stated Elias.

"Correct," said Elzam. "Let's finish up here and leave for the harbor,"

"Alright-"

"Princess Shine!" A voice from the courtyard's entrance interrupted Elias. Everyone turned to look at a middle aged man running into the courtyard. This man was Lord Ridal, Shine's faithful butler.

"What is the matter, Ridal?" Shine looked concerned.

"Oh, princess, it's horrible! I was just informed by a soldier that the city square is under attack! A group of monsters appeared from the sky and are laying waste there! The soldiers are fighting them off but there is no telling how long they will last!" Ridal's news surprised Shine and her group.

"Now, this is unexpected…" stated Geoffrey.

"There is no time to waste," Sanger stood up while holding his katana which was sheathed at the side of his hip. "We depart to the city square now!"

"Geoffrey and I will come with you," Elias and Geoffrey got off their seats.

"Then, I shall remain in the palace with the princess," Elzam said. "I will also contact our friends about this,"

"Please be careful," Princess Shine said to Sanger, Elias and Geoffrey.

"We will, Your Highness," Elias assured. Turning towards the courtyard's entrance, he then added, "Let's go!"

(scene change)

The SRX Team and Freedom Fighters are currently travelling to Riksent in their respective ships, the Hagane and Sky Patrol. Along the way, they are to rendezvous with a transport ship sent by the Tesla Leicht Institute.

"How long more before we reach Riksent, Captain Tetsuya?" Sally spoke to the Hagane's crew over the Sky Patrol's communication systems.

"We should be reaching there in about fifteen minute's time," replied Tetsuya. "Also, the ship from Tesla Leicht should be here any moment now,"

"Understood," said Sally.

"Captain, we've detected the Tesla Leicht Institute's transport ship signal. It's coming to accompany us," Adzuki informed Tetsuya.

"Good. Establish a communications link to it," Tetsuya said to Adzuki.

"Roger," Adzuki did as she was told. Soon, the Hagane's crew saw the image of Axel in the bridge's monitor.

"Greetings, Captain Tetsuya. It's been some time," Axel greeted.

"Yes, indeed," replied Tetsuya. "Where's the rest of your group?"

"Ibis, Sleigh, Tsugumi and Glacies are at the ship's hangar checking our units. Joshua, Cliana and Alfimi are at the break room tending to some… guests,"

"Guests?" Tetsuya asked. "Are there people aside from your group who are joining us?"

"Yes, it's a little complicated," said Axel. "By the way, what is that ship accompanying the Hagane? We saw it along the way here,"

"About that, that ship contains our guests,"

"Guests? Well, that makes two of us then,"

"Yes," Tetsuya was slightly humored by Axel's statement. "We're about to reach Riksent. We'll explain more about our guests once we land our ships there,"

"Agreed. I'll do the same for-" Axel was interrupted by a distress signal sent to the transport ship. The Hagane was also receiving the same signal. As both sides answered the signal, they soon began talking with Elzam.

"We are in an emergency. Riksent's city square is under attack," Elzam said.

"What!?" said a shocked Axel. "By whom?!"

"A group of monsters appearing from out of nowhere. Sanger and two others have gone there to help fight the monsters,"

"How can we help?" Tetsuya asked.

"The SRX Team and Axel's group will have to arm themselves with weapons and assist Sanger in fighting the monsters and minimizing casualties," said Elzam.

"I have a better idea," said Tetsuya. He quickly informed the Sky Patrol about the current situation.

"Zut alors! Ze kingdom is in trouble! We must help!" said Antoine.

"I am sorry to trouble you all but, can you all go assist our friend Sanger in fighting the enemies?" Tetsuya said to the Freedom Fighters.

"We got you, captain," said Rotor. "But, what will the SRX Team and your friends from Tesla Leicht do?"

"I'll handle that. Right now, I'll send the coordinates of Riksent's city square to the Sky Patrol," said Tetsuya. "Be careful,"

"We will. Thank you, captain," said Sally. With that, Captain Tetsuya signed off.

"Well, something big sho has popped up," Bunnie stated.

"We better prepare ourselves now," Sally turned to Nicole who was in her hologram form. "Nicole, take us to Riksent's city square,"

"Definitely," said Nicole. "Heading to the site of battle now,"


	8. Chapter 7

Riksent City Square is a large area in the middle of the kingdom's city. It has a large fountain and has many shops in it. Usually, many people will be walking around here visiting the shops.

However, an unexpected event occurred at the city square. The citizens walking there noticed a purplish portal emerging above it. Much to their shock, monsters began to rain down from the portal and attack the city square itself. The monsters were humanoid in shape and clad in white biomechanical armor. Each of them was armed with claws and had yellow bone-like protrusions as well as a central core on their bodies.

As people ran away in panic, some were unlucky to be caught in the monsters' path and got injured. Soldiers soon came in to fight the monsters and take the injured to safety. In the midst of the chaos, Sanger, Elias and Geoffrey arrived at the scene.

"These monsters…" Sanger looked slightly surprised. "I know them. They're Einsts!"

"You know these monsters?" Elias said and he Geoffrey took their weapons out.

"They were aliens which I and my friends have fought before. But, they were supposed to have been destroyed,"

"Know them or not, we better get moving, mates!" stated Geoffrey. With that, Sanger and his companions rushed into battle. Soon, the Einsts had their attention focused on Sanger, Elias and Geoffrey. The battle became intense as the Einsts moved around swiftly.

"They're fast!" Elias swung his sword towards an Einst, only for it to dodge his attack.

"Aim for their cores!" Sanger shouted as he killed an Einst with his katana. "It's their weak spot!"

"Brace yourselves, mates!" Geoffrey said while swinging his rod around. "This is going to be a rough ride!"

(scene change)

"We're nearing the city square," Nicole informed the Freedom Fighters. The Sky Patrol is en route to the Riksent City Square. Accompanying the ship is the Soulgain, piloted by Axel. Earlier, Tetsuya arranged for Axel to accompany the Sky Patrol to the city square. Tetsuya also told the SRX Team, Ibis, Sleigh, Tsugumi, Glacies, Joshua, Cliana and Alfimi to head to the palace and guard Princess Shine upon arriving at Riksent's harbor.

"I know this is not the right time to say this but, that robot accompanying us looks pretty cool," Rotor stated.

"Isn't it?" said Sonic.

"Admirations aside, is everyone ready?" Sally asked.

"We're good to go," Rotor said as he and Tails held up their blasters. T-Pup barked to show that it is ready for combat.

"Alright, then," Sally said. "Freedom Fighters, move out!"

(scene change)

Back at the city square, the battle is not at Sanger and his company's favor. Sanger, Elias and Geoffrey are currently being surrounded by a massive horde of Einsts. The soldiers from earlier are standing at one side of the square watching the fight. They are doing so not because of cowardice but because Sanger had told them not to participate as he did not want any unnecessary casualties.

"Sanger, this is bad. Although your idea of not getting the soldiers involved in this fight is noble, it's proven to be ineffective for this situation. I think we really need their help-"

"I understand your concerns," Sanger interrupted Elias's words. "However, these enemies are far more than what the soldiers can handle," Sanger gripped his katana tightly. "But, even when we're outnumbered, so long as our souls do not waver, we will surely be able to win this fight!"

"You sure have guts, mate," said Geoffrey. Soon, the trio saw that Einsts are getting ready to attack.

"Here they come!" Elias said as he and his companions readied themselves. The Einsts dashed towards the trio from all directions and attacked them aggressively. In the midst of this, Elias held his sword out and it switched to a crossbow-like form. He then fired red lasers out of the crossbow's multiple barrels towards a few Einsts. But, the Einsts dodged the laser blasts. As the fight continued, the trio continuously received blows from their foes while defending themselves. Things clearly looked bad for them.

"This is bad!" Elias exclaimed. "At this rate, we'll be defeated!"

"Do not falter!" Sanger slashed an Einst with his katana. "Endure their attacks until we find an opportunity to counterattack!" While the fight went on, Sanger, Elias and Geoffrey saw the soldiers talking amongst each other.

"What is that?" one soldier said while pointing towards the sky. Soon, the soldiers as well as Sanger, Elias and Geoffrey were looking at two objects in the sky. They were none other than the Sky Patrol and the Soulgain. Upon arriving at the city square, the Sky Patrol stopped and floated mid-air. Out of it came the Freedom Fighters who descended down to the ground using their Extreme Gear.

"Wh-What are those things?!" exclaimed another soldier as he and his companions looked at the descending Mobians. As the Freedom Fighters descended, Sonic jumped off his Extreme Gear.

"Freedom Fighters…" Sonic performed a Spin Dash and launched himself towards an Einst. "…have arrived!" Sonic finished his words as he smashed into the Einst's core, destroying it. Sonic then landed in front of Sanger, Elias and Geoffrey.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Sonic turned towards the trio and smiled at them. As his teammates joined him, the Freedom Fighters were surprised to see Elias and Geoffrey. "Wait a second, why are you two here?" Sonic said to the duo.

"We'll explain later! Right now, we need to defeat the enemies!" said Elias.

"That aside, looks like we got more company, mates," Geoffrey pointed towards the Soulgain which had just landed on the ground. The robot's cockpit opened and out of it came Axel, armed with his trusty Mizuchi arm blade, along with Blaze and her group!

"Sanger!" Axel shouted as he and his company ran towards Sanger's group and the Freedom Fighters. "We're here to help!" As the Freedom Fighters saw Axel's group running towards them, the former were surprised to see the Bride of the Conquering Storm, Lightning Lynx and Honey the Cat among the latter.

"Conquering Storm and Lightning Lynx are here too?!" Sally exclaimed.

"Even Miss Blaze is here!" said Cream.

"And Honey's here as well! What's going on?!" Tails said. Soon, Axel's group reached the Freedom Fighters and Sanger's group.

"Hey, never thought we'd see you guys here," Sonic said to Blaze's group.

"We should be saying the same to you, Sonic," Knuckles said.

"More Mobians?" said Sanger. "Interesting,"

"I can't believe that we're fighting the Einst again. They were supposed to be destroyed," stated Axel.

"You mean these monsters?" asked Honey. "You've fought them before?"

"It's a long story. Anyway, we'll talk later! We need to defeat the Einst first!" Everyone began to prepare for combat as the Einsts circled around them.

"Ready to rock, guys?" Sonic said to everyone.

"Anytime," Sally smiled while readying her Ring Blades.

"Well, without further ado…" Geoffrey said.

"FREEDOM FIGHTERS, CHARGE!" Honey shouted.

"That's our line!" Tails said.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. This is just so exciting!" The Freedom Fighters sweatdropped at Honey's words.

"No time for jokes! Here they come!" True to Axel's words, the Einst charged towards the group.

"Spread out!" At Sally's words, everyone moved towards different directions and fought the Einsts. Sally swiftly evaded the enemies' attacks while slashing some of them with her Ring Blades. Sonic zipped around the battlefield hitting multiple enemies with his Spin Dash.

"I can't believe you're actually here, Honey!" Amy said to Honey while smashing her Piko Piko Hammer into an Einst. "How did you end up here?"

"Oh, well, let's just say this and that happened," Honey replied as she dashed around a few Einsts at blinding speed.

"I'm guessing it's got something to do with your fashion designs!" Tails exclaimed while he and Rotor were firing their blasters at the Einsts.

"How did you guess?" Honey gave Tails an astonished look while she kicked an Einst.

"Well, regardless of how you ended up here, it's nice fighting alongside my favorite fashion designer!" Amy said as she and Honey stood next to each other.

"And it's nice to fight with one of my greatest admirers!" Honey replied. "So, let's make this a sweet victory!"

"Yeah! Cos if it's not sweet…" As Amy spoke, an Einst rushed towards her and Honey. The two female Mobians then dealt a blow to the said Einst and spoke in unison, "…you're not wearing HONEY!"

Big caught an Einst with his fishing rod and swung it towards another group of Einsts, sending them flying. "Off you go!" he exclaimed as he threw the Einst he caught to one side. The Einst flew towards Storm and Lightning who had just destroyed some Einsts. The moment the Einst reached them, Storm and Lightning delivered a powerful lightning charged kick to it, obliterating the said Einst.

"Raijin Geri!*"

[*Japanese for Thunder God Kick]

Cream and Cheese were fighting against the Einsts in tandem. Suddenly, an Einst rushed towards them from behind. "Look out!" Bunnie who was flying around flew towards Cream. However, Bunnie realized that she would not make it in time!

Fortunately, Geoffrey who was nearby saw this. Quickly, he turned himself into a smoke-like form and flew towards Cream and Cheese. He then enveloped the two, carried them to a safer position and reverted back to his normal form. Seeing this, Bunnie quickly blasted the Einst with her arm laser.

"Hey, thanks!" Bunnie thanked Geoffrey.

"You're welcome, luv," Geoffrey replied.

Meanwhile, Knuckles and Axel had just launched an uppercut on an Einst, sending it flying upwards. After that, Knuckles unleashed a barrage of explosive punches on more Einsts while Axel sliced another with his arm blade. The two then stood back-to-back.

"You're not bad, Knuckles," Axel commented. He then saw Blaze exterminating a few Einsts with her pyrokinesis and added, "And so are your friends,"

"You're not bad either," said Knuckles. "I'd also say the same for him," Knuckles pointed at Sanger.

"Oh, him? He's a great swordsman," Axel said. "And a force to be reckoned with," Axel's words were correct as Sanger jumped up into the air and unleashed a devastating blow onto an Einst.

"Zankantou: Shippu Dotou!**" Sanger's katana cleaved his target with such force that the Einst was sent flying aback and exploded into flames. Antoine who was nearby became awed by Sanger's technique briefly.

[**Japanese. Roughly translated to Colossal Blade: Hurricane Raging Sword]

"Zat was quite a display of swordsmanship, Monsieur Sanger," Antoine stated.

"Your swordsmanship is something as well," Sanger said. "I had witnessed it earlier,"

"Shall we finish zis battle quickly then?" Antoine and Sanger looked at a few Einsts who were approaching them.

"Very well. Let us go!" Sanger proclaimed while running towards the Einsts with Antoine.

"En garde!" Antoine exclaimed.

The Einsts dwindled in number as the battle continued. The soldiers witnessing the fight were amazed at the Mobians' fighting capabilities.

"Amazing," one of them said. "Those _chibi kemono_ are defeating the monsters!"

"I don't know who or what they actually are but, they are really awesome!" said another. Soon, a few Einsts remained on the battlefield. As everyone faced the remaining Einsts, the said Einsts began to retreat.

"Hey, they're running away!" Sonic said. Seeing the fleeing Einsts, Storm dashed towards their front in a burst of lightning.

"You won't escape," Storm said to the Einsts while charging up electricity in one hand. She then launched from out of it several lightning blasts in the shape of cats' heads.

"Raikodan!***" The lightning blasts collided with the Einsts and destroyed them. With that, the battle was over. As Storm went back to the group, Nicole congratulated everyone on their victory.

[***Japanese. Roughly translated to Thunder Cat Bullet]

"All enemies have been defeated," Nicole spoke from her handheld which was strapped to Sally's hips. "Nice job everyone!" Seeing that the battle was over, the soldiers cheered loudly.

"Well, looks like we got spectators," Sonic joked as everyone looked at the soldiers.

"I must say," Elias turned to the Freedom Fighters. "You guys are a sight for sore eyes! I never expected to see you guys here!"

"I should be saying the same to you, Elias!" Sonic replied. He pointed to Storm, Lightning and Geoffrey. "Plus, we never thought we'd see you guys again!"

"I believe we have not met before," Storm said to Sonic. "Yet why is it that you know me and Lightning?"

"It's a long story," Sonic turned to his teammates. "Right, guys?"

"Right…"


	9. Chapter 8

The being from the rift is currently moving around the purplish void. Earlier, it had dispatched a group of Einsts to attack Riksent City Square. The being had witnessed the defeat of his own kind by the hands of Sanger, Axel and the Mobians. When the battle was over, the being went back to the rift to think about what it had seen.

"To think that I would see that man, Axel Almer, again…" said the being. "He easily defeated my own kind with the help of those Mobians…" The being stopped in it's tracks.

"But, no matter," it then continued. "Once I fully assimilate the power of the emeralds into my body, I, Beowulf, will become unstoppable," The being began to give an ominous chuckle.

"Power is everything…"

(scene change)

At Riksent, the damage to the Riksent City Square is being repaired by construction workers. The SRX Team, Tetsuya, Eita, Adzuki, Kai, Shine, Ridal, Sanger, Elzam and the people from Tesla Leicht are in a large lounge-like room located inside the royal palace. They are currently waiting for the Mobians to come to the room.

"I didn't expect the SRX Team to have Mobians on their side as well, Captain Tetsuya," Axel spoke to Tetsuya. "It must have been surprising for them when they first met the Mobians,"

"That is true. You should have seen the looks on Ryusei and Captain Tetsuya's faces at that time though," Raidese stated. "They were clearly surprised beyond belief,"

"Did you have to bring that up?" Ryusei stared at Raidese. Aya and Mai were slightly amused at Ryusei's behavior.

"That aside, what's even more surprising is that the Einst have returned," said Tetsuya.

"But, how could that be possible I wonder?" asked Alfimi.

"Regardless of how they have returned, this is a matter that cannot be ignored. The return of the Einst will clearly pose a threat to the world," Viletta stated.

"Could this be the dreadful event that Princess Shine's premonitions have been showing?" asked Raidese.

"I think that is highly possible," A look of concern was seen on Shine's face. Ridal noticed this and spoke to her.

"Princess Shine, I can see that you are concerned about this issue. But, please do not worry too much. We along with the Mobians will protect you,"

"Thank you, Ridal. In fact, had it not been for them, who knows what would have become of the city,"

"I agree," said Sanger. "They displayed remarkable fighting ability in our fight against the Einst from earlier,"

"So, they can really fight…" said Joshua.

"And they're pretty cute too. One of them especially," stated Adzuki.

"Cute?" Glacies looked at Adzuki.

"Yeah. I got to touch one of their tails. It was so fluffy!" Adzuki looked excited. A few of the people in the room sweatdropped at Adzuki's behavior.

"By the way, I wonder what the Mobians are doing?" Adzuki said as she went back to normal. "They seem to be taking their time,"

"About that, Sally contacted me earlier saying that they're doing some catching up right now…" said Tetsuya.

"Catching up?" asked Cliana.

"Yes," replied Tetsuya. "They'll come here when they're done. For now, let's just wait for them,"

(scene change)

"Atchoo!" Tails had just sneezed softly.

"Hey, you alright, buddy?" Sonic said. "You got a cold or something?"

"Don't worry about it, Sonic. It's probably nothing," The Freedom Fighters had docked the Sky Patrol in Riksent's harbor. They are now gathered at the Sky Patrol's bridge. With them are Elias, Geoffrey, Blaze, Knuckles, Storm, Lightning and Honey. The Mobians had just finished introducing themselves to each other.

"Alright, I'm sure there are questions that we all would like to get answered," Sally said. "For starters, could you tell us how you four still exist?" Sally turned to Elias, Geoffrey, Storm and Lightning.

"What do you mean?" Lightning asked.

"I'll help explain that," Elias said. "You're referring to the Super Genesis Wave, right?" The Freedom Fighters were surprised over Elias's words.

"You know about that?" asked Tails.

"Yes, this is going to be a little complicated. You all might want to listen carefully," Elias then explained about how the Super Genesis Wave had rewritten Mobius. He even talked about how he obtained his memories of his previous life, his meeting with Geoffrey and how he and Geoffrey came to Earth.

"And that pretty much sums up me and Geoffrey's story," Elias said.

"How is zis possible?" Antoine spoke to Elias. "Ze Freedom Fighters are ze only ones who know about ze Super Genesis Wave. Yet, how could you know about it?"

"I don't understand it myself," replied Elias. "But, that's what happened,"

"To put things simply, you are saying that because of the Super Genesis Wave, certain things in Mobius ceased to exist?" Storm said to Elias.

"Correct,"

"But, how does this relate to the Freedom Fighters knowing about me and Storm even though they have never met us?" Lightning asked.

"I will answer that question for you," Nicole, who is in her physical form, spoke. As she spoke, she had a serious look on her face. "In actuality, the both of you as well as Geoffrey were not supposed to exist in Mobius's current reality due to the Super Genesis Wave or so we thought. Additionally, before Mobius was rewritten, we had met the three of you,"

"Is that true, luv?" Geoffrey asked.

"Yes," Nicole pointed towards Geoffrey. "In the previous reality, you were married to a Mobian named Hershey who went MIA during a mission. You also betrayed the Freedom Fighters and worked for an evil wizard named Ixis Naugus," Geoffrey raised his eyebrows as he listened to Nicole's words.

"As for the both of you," Nicole then pointed to Storm and Lightning. "Your clan once allied with a group called the Iron Dominion which wreaked havoc in Mobius. On top of that, Storm was known to be a ruthless fighter who did not tolerate failures. There was even a time where she banished Lightning twice from the clan all because he failed her,"

"What?" Lightning became surprised. Storm raised her eyebrows slightly but quickly returned to her usual serious expression and listened calmly.

"I can understand your surprise since the three of you have no memories of the previous reality. However, there is one thing I'll be frank about," Nicole looked at Geoffrey. "Geoffrey, you may have helped us fight the monsters earlier, but, personally, I have my doubts about you. I have nothing against you but, I am saying this due to the Freedom Fighters' history with you,"

"Nicole's right. What if Geoffrey were to get the memories of his previous life? If that were to happen, who knows what he might do next!" stated Amy.

"Hold on a sec, Amy, Nicole," said Bunnie. "Ah understand what you two are thinking. But, earlier when we were fighting, he saved Cream and Cheese from being hurt by those monsters. The way he did it, he sure was genuine in doing so,"

"I can understand if every one of you doubts Geoffrey. To be honest, I too doubted him when I met him again. But, right now, he's not the Geoffrey whom we all know," Elias looked at Amy. "And as for your concerns about Geoffrey's memories, Amy, we'll worry about it should that time come," After Elias spoke, Honey stepped forward to speak.

"You know I don't really get this Super Genesis Wave thing, but, since we're here together, that makes us friends, right?" She then added cheerfully, "So, don't worry so much about the past! Let's just do what we need to do together!"

"Um… I suppose you're right, Honey," said Amy.

"I agree as well," Nicole said as her face softened. "I should apologize for my words earlier. It's just that I was surprised to see people whom we have met in the past. Especially those whom we shared a bad history with like Geoffrey,"

"Oh, don't worry about it, luv," Geoffrey smiled at Nicole.

"As surprising as your words may be, I can sense that you are speaking the truth. Therefore, I see no offence in them. There is no need for you to apologize," Storm said to Nicole.

"And aside from talking about the past…" Geoffrey walked towards Honey. "I must say that I'm honored to meet the CEO of the Honey Brand of Clothes and Accessories. I've seen your creations and they are quite remarkable,"

"Why thank you," Honey was flattered by Geoffrey's words.

"But, what I find truly remarkable…" Geoffrey suddenly placed an arm around Honey's shoulder, causing everyone to look at the two. "…is you," Much to the Freedom Fighters' surprise, Geoffrey began to kiss Honey's lips. The Freedom Fighters were so surprised that their eyes and mouths were wide open. The rest of the Mobians sans Geoffrey and Honey just stared at the duo.

"Hmm…" Geoffrey pulled his lips away from Honey's, leaving her stunned. "Just as your name implies, you taste sweet. What say I work for you as one of your models? Not only will you be able to promote your line, you will also be able to earn a special 'favor'-" Geoffrey was interrupted by a smack on his head from Amy.

"What do you think you're doing kissing Honey?" Amy demanded.

"Ah, I forgot to mention…" Elias said while a sweat drop formed on his head. "Geoffrey can be quite the womanizer,"

"For real?" asked Tails. "Since when?"

"Beats me. But, that's what I learnt when I travelled around Mobius with him…"

"It's as Elias says, mate," said Geoffrey. He then said to Amy, "And for a cute girl, you seem pretty rough," Amy became surprised and began to blush.

"D-Don't say that! Only Sonic deserves to call me cute!"

"You didn't have to bring that up…" Sonic sweatdropped. Everyone then saw Honey walk up to Geoffrey with a serious look on her face.

"Geoffrey, I'll be frank. I think your act was not good," Honey said. Suddenly, she became excited and added, "Your act was amazing!" The Freedom Fighters became even more surprised, causing their eyes to turn blank and white. As for Storm, her eyes became covered by the shadow of her hat.

"Your charm will definitely help promote my fashion line! I'll accept you as one of my models!" Honey spoke while shaking hands with Geoffrey.

"The pleasure is mine, luv," Geoffrey smiled. "How about we discuss this while having a date?"

"W-Wait a second! I don't understand this!" Tails pointed at Geoffrey and Honey. "How could Geoffrey possibly gain Honey's favor with a single kiss?! It doesn't make sense!"

"Well, Geoffrey can be very charming towards women and girls. And for your information, he's known as the 'Hitman'. He doesn't just flirt with female Mobians but with human women as well," Elias stated.

"The ability to charm female Mobians and human women alike?" Lightning said. "What a frightening ability,"

"I don't know if I should be impressed…" stated Knuckles.

Blaze cleared her throat in order to get everyone's attention. "I hate to interrupt but, should we not go and meet our human friends at the palace?"

"Shoot! You're right!" Sonic exclaimed. "We must have kept them waiting. We better get to them now!"

"Before that, I think we've got one more question in our minds," Sally said. "And that is about how Blaze ended up here with Knuckles, Storm, Lightning and Honey,"

"I will explain that to all of you and the humans at the palace," Blaze said. "Right now, we should go," With that, the Mobians began to leave the Sky Patrol's bridge.

"Hope they won't get mad at us for making them wait so long," Rotor said.

"Don't worry. We'll just tell them that we had a way lot of catching up to do," said Sally.


	10. Chapter 9

"Sonic and his friends are not here yet," Ryusei looked at his watch as he spoke. "Should we go check up on them?"

"Don't worry about it," said Raidese. "They probably have a lot to catch up on,"

"Yeah probably," replied Ryusei. "Next thing we know, Sonic would probably burst into this room and say-"

"Hey, guys!" Sonic had just opened the room's door and entered it with his friends. The humans then began to look at the Mobians.

"Ah, they've arrived," Tetsuya said. He then noticed some of the Mobians looking a little exhausted. "Is something the matter? Some of you seem exhausted,"

"Oh, about that…" Rotor spoke. "Along the way here, we attracted a lot of attention. Turns out word about us fighting the monsters earlier had spread around Riksent. A lot of people crowded around us to get to know us. Some even tried to get our autographs!"

"We had to run away from them in order to get to the palace," Sally said.

"But, it was pretty cool getting all that attention!" Honey exclaimed with excitement.

"I'm not sure about that…" Amy sweatdropped.

"Yeah, especially since a lot of people tried to touch Tails' two tails at that time…"

"You didn't have to bring that up!" Tails was embarrassed by Rotor's words.

"Ah come on, Tails, there's no need to be embarrassed," Bunnie teased. "Yer had yer tail touched by Adzuki once, remember?"

"Bunnie!" Tails shouted as his face reddened. Some of the Mobians chuckled upon seeing Tails' reaction. Storm's eyes were covered by her hat's shadow upon seeing the hilarity of the situation.

"I… see that you had quite an experience there," Tetsuya stated. "That aside, shall we introduce ourselves? I believe not all of us know each other's names," Everyone then began to introduce themselves.

"Wow, we got quite an interesting group here," Ryusei spoke after the introductions were over. "We got three princesses, two ninjas, a speedy hedgehog, a fashion designer… It's like a line-up of characters from a fantasy role-playing game,"

"I can't imagine a fashion designer being a fighter though…" Ibis gave Honey a perplexed look.

"Well, as a lot of people would say, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover," Honey raised one finger while speaking.

"I guess…" Tsugumi said. After Tsugumi spoke, Blaze began to step forward.

"Now that we are done with the introductions, I would like to explain to all of you about an important matter. I have explained it to those among us from the Tesla Leicht Institute but, I shall do so again so as to enlighten the rest of us,"

"An important matter?" Raidese said.

"Yes," said Blaze. "It is something that you all might want to pay attention to. Especially the Freedom Fighters," The Mobians save Blaze looked at her curiously.

"Us?" Tails said.

"As I have mentioned earlier, I am the princess of the Sol Zone which is my home. In it, there exist mystical emeralds called Sol Emeralds that are guarded by me,"

"So, you're like... a guardian?" Blaze nodded at Adzuki's words.

"At times, I have fought to protect the emeralds from being misused by evil with the help of the Freedom Fighters. One day, I received a vision. A vision of an alien being taking away the emeralds and making them it's own. Realizing that the emeralds would be in danger again, I sought to find people who will help me guard them," Everyone listened intently to Blaze while she spoke.

"At first, I thought of asking the Freedom Fighters. But, I was afraid I would be troubling them as they would be busy with their own work. Hence, I decided to search for people aside from them. Through my search, I was able to get four people to join me. They are Knuckles, Storm, Lightning and Honey,"

"How did Honey end up getting involved in this?" asked Tails.

"Well, long story short, I just joined the group by coincidence," said Honey. She then added with a wink, "Plus, I entered into an agreement with the Raiju clan that they would help promote my latest Oriental Fantasy line,"

"Seriously?" Sonic said as he and the Freedom Fighters looked at Storm and Lightning. "Wow, I never thought you two were the modeling type,"

"As Honey had said earlier," Lightning smiled. "You should never judge a book by it's cover,"

"That's so like Honey…" Tails sweatdropped.

"Moving on," Blaze continued. "After I gathered my companions, I sent the five of us to the place where the Sol Emeralds were kept at. We guarded the emeralds and were prepared for anything that would come our way. Then, as foreseen in my vision, the being came to the emeralds. Without wasting time, we confronted and fought it,"

"What did this being look like?" Viletta asked.

"It looked similar to the ones we fought earlier except that it was purple in color. On top of that, it had some kind of killing intent emanating from him. It's killing intent was so strong that we could feel a great sense of dread welling up in us,"

"To put it simply, that being resembled a demon," Storm said.

"In addition, the being had the ability to heal it's wounds at a frightening pace," Blaze stated. "No matter how many injuries we inflicted on it, they just healed instantly. We even destroyed one of it's limbs, only for it to grow back," Blaze started to look upset.

"And then we realized we were tricked by that being. While we were focused on fighting it, it's companions came out from hiding and took the emeralds. We were fooled! Just like that, the being had got what it wanted. As it escaped into what appeared to be a portal, we gave chase, only for us to end up in this world,"

"Then, that means this being you're talking about could be the one responsible for bringing us into Earth!" Rotor said.

"I am not certain about that. But, I know one thing," Blaze lit a fireball in one of her hands and then added angrily, "The next time I see that being, I will burn it to ashes!" Everyone became astonished by Blaze's sudden outburst.

"You seem pretty concerned over the Sol Emeralds," said Shine to Blaze.

"Of course I am!" Blaze replied, her voice sounding desperate. "The Sol Emeralds are the lifeblood of my home world! Without them, the Sol Zone's stability will be endangered! In fact, there is a possibility that my home is eroding right now while we are stuck in this world!" Blaze's words caused the humans to be surprised further.

Blaze closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "I can't believe I was easily tricked by that being. If I was more careful, then, none of this would have-" Knuckles placed a hand on Blaze's shoulder causing the latter to stop speaking.

"Don't blame yourself too much," Knuckles said. "We understand what it's like to have a home in danger. But, if you continue losing your cool like this, we won't find a solution to this problem,"

"It is human to lose your patience especially during times of trouble," Sanger stated. "But, being too impatient can lead to one making hasty decisions that can endanger others,"

Cream stood next to Blaze and gave her a concerned look. Even Cheese had the same look on his face. "Miss Blaze, I understand that you are worried. But, please don't be like that. We'll help you find the emeralds and save your home,"

"We will assist the Mobians to the best of our efforts as well," Tetsuya said. "Not just in helping them return to their home world but, in finding the Sol Emeralds as well," Hearing this, Blaze turned silent for a moment.

"You're right," Blaze then sighed. "I apologize for my outburst. And thank you," She looked at Tetsuya and added, "Also, you need not trouble yourself too much about helping the Mobians return home. Once the Sol Emeralds are recovered, I can use their powers to transport us back to Mobius and repair any damage done to my home," Seeing that Blaze had calmed down, Cream and Cheese smiled.

"You can do that?" Ryusei said in surprise. "That's amazing," Blaze raised her eyebrows. "Why, yes, thank you," she then replied.

"Now that everyone here knows about the Mobians' situation, I should explain about something as well," Axel spoke. "This is about the monsters that attacked the city,"

"Yeah, speaking about them, you said they were called Einsts," said Honey.

"Eye-ins?" Big asked. "What kind of word is that?"

"It's spelt E-I-N-S-T-S, Big. One word," Nicole said while being humored by Big's question.

"Oh, okay," replied Big.

"Yes, that is what they are called. In truth, they are one of the few beings that attempted to invade Earth in the past. We defeated them and believed that they had been eliminated at least, until now," Axel stated.

"What can you tell us about them?" asked Sally.

"The Einsts were supposedly born from this planet. They have the ability to travel between dimensions and act as guardians,"

"Guardians? Of what?" asked Tails.

"Peace. Or so they claim. They are supposed to keep the peace in various universes. But, their idea of peace is not something every person would accept. If they deem a universe- or a world, in fact, to be overly laden with conflicts, they will destroy and reboot it to their liking," The Mobians were shocked at Axel's words.

"Mon dieu…" said Antoine.

"Why would they do that?" asked Amy. "That's just not right!"

"It's because that's how they are," Alfimi said with a sad voice. "My kind had been like that since the beginning,"

"Your kind?" Knuckles asked.

"Are you… one of them?" asked Nicole.

"You're correct," Axel said to Nicole. "Alfimi is actually an Einst herself. However, she defected against her own kind and has remained with us,"

"Well, ah'll be," commented Bunnie.

"The destruction of worlds for the sake of peace?" Storm said. "That sounds like the idea of one who is drunk on power,"

"Based on what we are discussing, it appears that our problems are connected," Viletta said. "In fact, the return of the Einst as well as the arrival of the Mobians at Earth are not coincidental. These events are most likely triggered by the Einst who stole the Sol Emeralds from Blaze's world. If nothing is done about them, not only would Earth be in danger but, other worlds as well,"

"That will include Mobius!" Tails exclaimed as he and the other Mobians realized the truth behind Viletta's statement.

"Then, shouldn't we start looking for whoever stole the Sol Emeralds now?" said Sleigh.

"But, even if we do so, we don't know where to look. The thief could be anywhere," stated Joshua.

"You're correct, Joshua," said Elzam. "As unfortunate as this may sound, I'm afraid to say that we do not have any leads at the moment," Everyone fell silent and began pondering about the current situation.

"Say," Honey broke the silence. "Why don't we take a break? I don't think any good will come from thinking too much about our situation now,"

"That sounds like a good idea," said Tetsuya. "What do you all say?"

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Sonic agreed. "It's good to unwind a little," Turning to the rest of the Mobians he added, "How about it, guys?"

"I'd say why not?" Sally smiled. The other Mobians looked as if they agreed with the idea of a break.

"If that's the case, I'll notify the ATX Team and Hiryu Kai, whom will be arriving here tonight, about our current situation. Together with them, we will come up with a plan in retrieving the Sol Emeralds tomorrow," said Kai. "For today, let us relax,"

"Alright, then!" said an enthusiastic Sonic. "So, what shall we do?"

"Well, I'm thinking of shopping!" said an excited Amy. "And perhaps a date with Sonic!" Sonic felt uncomfortable upon hearing those words.

"Um… I'll pass," Sonic raised a hand and sweatdropped causing all of his teammates save Amy to chuckle.

"Actually, I thought of testing my fighting skills against someone," Axel said. He then pointed to Knuckles, "And that'll be you. I'd like to see more of your fighting style,"

"A challenge, huh?" Knuckles smiled. "I don't mind at all,"

"A duel between two individuals who are similar to each other? How smashing!" commented an excited Honey.

"How are they similar?" asked a perplexed Eita.

"Well, Axel and Knuckles sound quite similar especially when they get worked up," Alfimi gave a mischievous smile.

"We're not similar," said Axel and Knuckles in unison. The two were then surprised and looked at each other. Even most of the others present in the room were surprised.

Sally started to giggle softly. The rest of the Freedom Fighters slowly followed suit. Soon, the Freedom Fighters then burst out loud in laughter. Even Ryusei and Honey joined in. Some of the humans along with Elias, Geoffrey, Blaze and Lightning were also amused by Axel and Knuckles' words. As for Storm, she appeared to be resisting the urge to laugh. She ended up bowing her head down and chuckling softly.

"Those two are quite similar aren't they?" Lightning commented about Axel and Knuckles with a smile.


	11. Chapter 10

The people of Riksent resumed their daily lives after the Einst's attack on the city earlier. Some of them were still fearful of the incident but, they were quickly assured by their friends that things will be alright. This is because word about the Mobians helping to fend off the Einsts had spread around the kingdom.

In the city, Amy and Honey were visiting a boutique, checking out it's selection of clothes. The two were accompanied by Cream, Cheese, Blaze, Elias, Geoffrey, Aya and Mai who were watching the duo. Some of Riksent's residents present in the boutique were looking at the Mobians.

"This dress looks amazing," Amy commented on a red dress of her size. "Maybe I should wear this and show Sonic…"

"Hmm..." Honey examined the dress. "It does look nice. I could go with this design for my Oriental Fantasy series,"

"And you might want to make it romantic, luv," Geoffrey walked towards Honey and placed his arm around her. "Like the two of us,"

"Aw, Geoffrey, you're so charming," Honey said.

"Wait a second, you two are getting lovey dovey with each other already?" Amy frowned at Geoffrey and Honey.

"But, of course, luv. Besides, Honey has the appearance of an angel. And it's only natural for an angel like her to receive love from a man like me," Geoffrey gave Honey a charming look.

"Oh, stop it, Geoffrey, you're making me blush," Honey giggled.

"Is he always like this?" Mai asked Elias.

"Well, he is the 'Hitman' so that's correct," replied Elias.

"Aside from my title, I must also say that Miss Aya and Mai here are angels as well," commented Geoffrey.

"R-Really?" Aya looked flattered and placed a hand on her cheek. "You make me sound like a princess actually,"

"Aya?!" Mai was surprised at her sister's behaviour.

"Oh, I was just kidding, Mai. Don't worry about it," Aya smiled at Mai. However, Mai looked doubtful and thought in her mind, _But, you were doing that on purpose, weren't you?_

"And it would be of my greatest honour to date two of our beautiful princesses, Princess Blaze and Sally-" Hearing this, Elias and Blaze glared at Geoffrey. Seeing the looks on Elias and Blaze's faces, Geoffrey raised his eyebrows.

"Is something the matter?"

"Geoffrey, please don't even think of hitting on my sister," Elias said, a purple menacing aura emanating from him.

"And if you dare do the same to me, I'll prepare a hailstorm of fire for you," Blaze said, a fiery aura radiating from her. Aya and Mai stared at Elias and Blaze. Amy sweatdropped at the current situation. As for Cream, she held Cheese close to her.

"Miss Blaze and Mr. Elias are being scary…" Cream said in a scared tone.

"Chao, chao…" Cheese said fearfully.

(scene change)

At a beach located a certain distance away from Riksent's city, Axel and Knuckles were engaged in a sparring match. The two continuously launched a barrage of punches towards each other. At one point, their fists collided with such force that both were pushed backward. After that, they decided to stop for a moment.

"Good match," Knuckles bumped fists with Axel. "You got some nice punches, Axel,"

"Yours aren't bad either, Knuckles," replied Axel. "With your skills, you could pilot a Personal Trooper of your own,"

"Sounds interesting but, I think my fists alone are enough to take down my enemies," Knuckles then added, "That aside, want another round?" Knuckles entered his battle stance.

"Sure, why not?" Axel entered into his own battle stance.

"Hey, guys!" A voice called Axel and Knuckles. The duo turned their heads and saw Sonic, Sally, Nicole, Antoine, Bunnie, Big, Froggy and Sanger coming towards them.

"Oh, you guys. What are you all doing here?" Knuckles asked Sonic's group.

"Well, you see, Big wanted to go fishing with Froggy. We thought of accompanying him and here we are," said Sally.

"And Suga-Twan is gonna have a duel with Sanger right here," Bunnie said.

"You're going to duel with Antoine?" Axel said to Sanger. Sanger replied with a "Yes," "That's interesting," Axel then replied. "Knuckles and I are in a duel of our own as well. How about the two of you join us?"

"A 2 on 2 match, you say?" Sanger said. "That will be fine,"

"Bon. Monsieur Axel's suggestion sounds interesting," said Antoine.

"Well, Sonic, Sally, Nicole and I should be going with Big and Froggy here to a fishing spot now," said Bunnie. She then pecked Antoine on the cheek and added, "Ah'll see ya later, hon,"

"You too, mon cheri," Antoine pecked Bunnie in the cheek. As Sonic, Sally, Nicole, Bunnie, Big and Froggy left, the rest of the group prepared for their spar.

"Now then, shall we?" Antoine looked at Sanger and drew his sword out partially.

"With pleasure," replied Sanger who did the same.

(scene change)

At another part of the beach, Storm and Lightning were sitting on a rock next to the shore, their backs facing the shore itself. The two Raiju ninjas were closing their eyes and meditating. Behind them, a group of four human boys were playing with a plastic beach ball.

As Storm and Lightning meditated, one of the boys accidentally hit the ball away from his friends, making it fly towards Storm's back. As if she had eyes behind her head, Storm grabbed the ball and held it in her hand. At that moment, the boys quickly ran towards Storm and Lightning.

"Sorry," the boy who hit the ball apologized. "Could we have our ball back-" The children suddenly became surprised as Storm and Lightning turned around to look at them. As Storm and Lightning came down from the rock they sat on and faced them, the children began to look slightly afraid due to the Raiju ninjas' appearances.

"Is this your ball?" Storm held the ball she caught in front of the children.

"Y-Yes," one of the children said nervously. There was a moment of silence as Storm's serious look penetrated the children. Then, much to the children's surprise, Storm gave a kind smile and handed the ball back.

"There is no need to be afraid," Storm spoke. "We may look different but, we share the same hearts as you all,"

"You two look like animals," said another child to the Raiju ninjas.

"We're lynxes," smiled Lightning.

"Um… Can I ask what are your names?" one of the children asked Storm and Lightning.

"I am Lightning Lynx," Lightning introduced himself. "And this is my wife, Conquering Storm. We're members of the Raiju clan of ninjas,"

"What are your names, young ones?" Storm asked the children.

"I'm Yushiro," said the boy who asked for Storm and Lightning's names. "And these are my friends, Yuki, Yuta and Eiji,"

"You two are ninjas?!" Yuta exclaimed excitedly. "That's awesome! I've only seen in them in TV and now I get to face them for real!" Yuta then approached Storm and Lightning. "Hey, can you teach me how to become one? I've always wanted to be like a ninja!"

"Yuta, aren't you being a bit rude making a sudden request like that?" Yuki said.

Storm chuckled at Yuta's enthusiasm. "Becoming a ninja requires intensive training. You can only do that when you're older, Yuta,"

"Aw," Yuta began to look sad.

"But, if you want, we can demonstrate our skills to all of you," Storm said to the children.

"Really?!" Yuta's enthusiasm returned. Even his friends began to share his enthusiasm.

"I would say that sounds interesting, Storm," Lightning stated. "Shall we then?" With that, Storm and Lightning prepared to spar with each other. While the Raiju ninjas did so, Sonic's group was approaching them. The group then stopped in their tracks upon seeing Storm and Lightning with the children.

"Hey, isn't that Conquering Storm and Lightning over there?" Sonic pointed to the Raiju ninjas.

"And they're with human children too. I wonder what they're doing?" said Sally. Sonic's group then saw the Raiju ninjas amazing the children with their fighting skills. Both Storm and Lightning displayed lightning based powers in their sparring match.

"Now that's something I'd never expect from Storm," said Sonic. "First, she's married to Lightning and now she's wowing children with her skills,"

"Sonic, why don't you go ahead with Sally, Big and Bunnie?" Nicole said. "I'd like to talk with Storm and Lightning,"

"I'll go with you, Nicole," Sally said.

"Sure, catch you girls later," Sonic, Big, Bunnie and Froggy then left. Sally and Nicole walked towards the Raiju ninjas and the children.

"Excuse me," Sally said as she and Nicole reached Storm and Lightning. The two ninjas stopped their match and looked at Sally and Nicole. Even the children looked at them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your match but do you have a minute? We'd like to talk with you two," Sally said to Storm and Lightning.

"Who are they, Storm?" Eiji asked. "Are they your friends?"

Storm then smiled at the children and said to them, "Yes, they are my comrades. How about you children go somewhere and play first? Lightning and I will come back to you all afterwards,"

"Sure, come on guys," Yushiro and his friends moved to another spot. As the kids left, Storm put on her usual serious expression and together with Lightning talked with Sally and Nicole.

"Is there something you need?" Storm asked Sally and Nicole.

"That was pretty nice of you being with those children," Sally stated.

"We were just entertaining them," said Lightning. "Those children were eager to see our skills,"

"I must say, Storm," Nicole said. "You've changed,"

"Changed?" asked Storm.

"You were originally a person who cared about strength above all other things. Things like love were of no relevance to you. Yet, I see that you are married with Lightning, the man whom you banished twice in your previous life. On top of that, when you talked to those children, you had the look of a kind soul," Hearing Nicole's words, Storm and Lightning became silent.

"First and foremost," Storm then said to Sally and Nicole. "As you had said, I do not know of my memories of the previous reality which you spoke of. However, I will say one thing-Right now, my past is not my concern. My only concern is to assist everyone in recovering the Sol Emeralds,"

"What do you mean by your past is not your concern?" Sally asked Storm.

"Regarding that," Storm's voice seemed to have a hint of sadness in it. "That will have to wait for another time. Now, if you excuse me, Lightning and I should be going back to the children," Storm walked away from Sally, Nicole and Lightning. As Lightning was about to join Storm, he stopped in his tracks and looked at Sally and Nicole.

"I will say this," Lightning then said to the two. "Storm may appear to be serious on the outside. However, despite her serious exterior, my wife does show kindness towards others. Do please understand,"

"A-Alright" Sally said. With that, Lightning bowed down and joined his wife. Sally and Nicole looked at the Raiju ninjas as the latter re-joined the children.

"Did you notice how Storm sounded a little sad earlier?" Sally said to Nicole. "That's not like her at all,"

"She must have a past which she prefers to remain hidden from those aside from her and Lightning," replied Nicole.

"She really has changed, hasn't she?" Sally and Nicole saw Storm and Lightning playing with the children.

"Indeed, Sally,"


	12. Chapter 11

Night has arrived at Riksent. The city is flooded with bright lights. At Riksent's harbor, the Hiryu Kai had just been docked there. Out of it came the ATX Team, comprising Kyosuke Nanbu, Excellen Browning, Brooklyn "Bullet" Luckfield, Kusuha Mizuha, Lamia Loveless and Ariel Org. Accompanying the ATX Team is the Octo Squad comprised of Katina Tarask, Russel Bagman, Tasuku Shinguji and Leona Garstein. Even the Hiryu Kai's captain, Lefina Enfield, along with Sean Webley and Eun Hyojin, accompanied the ATX Team and Octo Squad.

Upon exiting their ship, the group left for the royal palace. Arriving there, they walked towards the palace's dining hall. Along the way there, the group talked amongst themselves.

"I can't wait to see what the Mobians Major Kai told us about look like," Excellen said in her usual sassy tone. "Could they be cute? Or could they be ferocious?"

"I wonder…" Bullet frowned at Excellen's words.

"It'll be great if some of those Mobians are bouncy as well," said Tasuku.

"Bouncy?" Leona gave Tasuku a serious look.

"Whoa, whoa, I was only kidding, Miss Leona!" Tasuku replied, a small sweat drop forming on his head.

"I'm more concerned about the Einst," Kyosuke said. "I never thought they would return,"

"Indeed, the return of the Einst is a matter of great concern," Sean said.

"Well, at the moment, let's not think about the Einst for now," said Katina. "Right now, let's just get to the dining hall to grab some good food!"

"Please don't say that, Lieutenant Katina…" Russel said with a slight hint of concern in his voice. Soon, everyone arrived at the dining hall's door. They stood in front of it for a moment before opening it.

"We're here just as Elzam told us to," said Ariel.

"Knowing Elzam, he must be the one to have cooked tonight's dinner," said Leona.

"Well, let's get in there and dig in!" Katina eagerly opened the door.

"Lieutenant, please be patient!" Russel said as he and the rest of the group followed Katina into the dining hall. Upon entering the hall, everyone was greeted by an amazing sight. In front of them were two tables with plates filled with a variety of delectable food. Among the food, there were sushi, cakes, sandwiches and many others. Next to the two tables were more tables for people to sit at.

"****! I know Elzam's a great cook but, this looks better than what he made before!" Katina said.

"Speaking of Elzam, where is he?" asked Tasuku.

"Right here," Elzam's voice came from one side of the dining hall. The crew of the Hiryu Kai turned to see Elzam approaching them. Following Elzam from behind are the Mobians.

"Hey, Elzam!" Katina said. "You've got a nice buffet spread out here-" She then saw the Mobians and became highly shocked. The rest of the Hiryu Kai's crew became astonished upon seeing the Mobians. Tasuku was so astonished that his eyes and mouth were wide open.

"W-W-W-What the **** are these things!?" Katina shouted while pointing at the Mobians.

"They are so cute!" Excellen said as her face brightened.

"They are the Mobians who helped fight the Einst earlier," said Elzam with a smile. "And there's no need to be astonished about our friends' looks here. They are quite normal despite how they look,"

Antoine stepped forward and greeted the Hiryu Kai's crew in French. "Bonsoir, mesdames et messieurs," The Hiryu Kai's crew became astonished further after hearing Antoine speak.

"You… You can talk!" Bullet said to Antoine.

"We can do more than that actually," said Sally. Nicole walked towards the Hiryu Kai's crew.

"You must be the ATX Team and Octo Squad," Nicole said. She held out her hand to Kyosuke and added, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Kyosuke Nanbu,"

"How do you know my name?" asked a puzzled Kyosuke.

"I know all of your names," Nicole replied. "The Hagane's database provided me with that information,"

"Nicole's an A.I.," Tails said. "She downloaded that information into her consciousness,"

"An A.I. with a physical body of it's own?" Lamia stated. "Is that even possible?"

"Well, seeing is believing," Rotor said.

"Aside from that," Geoffrey walked towards Lefina. "Such a fine lady you are. It's a pleasure to meet you," He then kissed Lefina's hand causing the rest of the Hiryu Kai's crew to be surprised. The Mobians save Honey, Storm and Lightning sweatdropped at Geoffrey's behavior. Honey on the other hand, was excited over Geoffrey's action. Storm's eyes became covered by her hat's shadow.

"Oh, my!" Excellen said. "I didn't think one of the Mobians here would be a charmer!"

"Well, what can I say, luv?" Geoffrey smiled at Excellen.

Sally cleared her throat. "I don't mean to be direct but, everyone should be here soon for dinner right?"

"Yes, Sally," said Elzam. "The rest of us should be arriving here soon,"

"That's good," said Sonic. He then added while looking at everyone, "So, who's hungry?"

(scene change)

Everyone was gathered at the Riksent royal palace's dining hall. Both the humans and Mobians were clearly enjoying the food. Geoffrey and Honey sat together, feeding each other food like a romantic couple. The Freedom Fighters sat with the SRX Team and ATX Team along with Elzam.

"This French beef stew is not bad," Ryusei said as he ate a spoonful of the stew. "Did you make this stew, Elzam?"

"No, I didn't," replied Elzam. "In fact, it was Antoine who made it,"

"He can cook?" Mai asked. "I didn't know that,"

"Suga-Twan's our team's cook. And his cooking is da best ever!" said Bunnie who sat next to her husband.

"That's amazing!" said Ryusei. He then praised Antoine. "Your cooking is awesome!"

"Merci, Monsieur Ryusei," smiled Antoine.

"And Antoine's a very skilled swordsman as well," said Axel who came at the Freedom Fighters' table with Sanger. "He had a duel with Sanger and fought equally with him,"

"For real?" Excellen became excited. "Antoine fought the boss?"

"Oui, Madame Excellen," said Antoine. "And I must say that Monsieur Sanger is quite ze swordsman. His sword is clearly a representation of a real man's sword,"

"Any sword can become like that," said Sanger. "So long as your soul does not waver, it can cut through anything,"

"By the way, is it alright if I ask you something, Axel?" said Nicole.

"What is it?" asked Axel.

"It's about Alfimi. Why is it that she sided with the humans despite being an Einst? Does she have any reason for doing so?" Axel became quiet for a moment after Nicole spoke.

"Originally, Alfimi was loyal to the Einst. She believed that the Einst's ways were just. But, during the battle with the Einst's leader, she was convinced by Kyosuke and Excellen to side with us,"

"What made you two convince her to join the humans?" Sally asked Kyosuke and Excellen.

"Let's just say…" said Kyosuke. "…that it was for a personal reason,"

"I see," replied Sally. "If that's the case, I guess we shouldn't delve further into this matter,"

"Anyway, does that really matter?" Sonic said. "It doesn't matter who or what Alfimi is. If Alfimi's on our side, then she's our friend. That's that,"

"Yes, Sonic is correct," said Kusuha. The rest of the people at the Freedom Fighters' table appeared to agree with Sonic and Kusuha's words.

"That aside," Excellen looked at Antoine and Bunnie. "Say, can I ask the both of you something?"

"Sho, what is it?" Bunnie said.

"You said you two are married," Excellen stated. "But, both of you are from different species. Is cross-species mating common among Mobians?" A light blush dusted Antoine and Bunnie's cheeks. The rest of the Mobians became surprised at Excellen's question. Sally was so surprised that she dropped her fork onto her plate.

"Well, to answer your question, Excellen," Sally then said after clearing her throat. "we Mobians are one species and at the same time, not. Think of us as being divided into different ethnic groups. Most Mobians couple within their own ethnic group but, none mind when two from different ethnicities marry,"

"That must explain why those two are close to each other," Lamia looked at Geoffrey and Honey. Everyone at the Freedom Fighters' table looked at the two Mobians who were clearly smitten with each other.

"Well, yes, you could say that," Sally said as she and her teammates sweatdropped.

"I still can't believe that Geoffrey turned out to be this kind of person…" said Tails.

"Well, strange things can happen since our world's been rewritten," stated Bunnie.

"And speaking of Geoffrey here he comes," True to Rotor's words, Geoffrey and Honey walked towards the Freedom Fighters' table. As the couple walked, Honey clung to Geoffrey's arm lovingly.

"Hello, mates," Geoffrey greeted everyone at the Freedom Fighters' table. "Having a good time?"

"Yeah, we are," Ryusei said.

"I must say that the food you cooked is quite delectable," Geoffrey said to Elzam and Antoine. "You two are quite the cooks,"

"Thank you for your compliment, Geoffrey," said Elzam.

"Merci beaucoup, Geoffrey," Antoine said.

"Say, what were you two talking about earlier?" Excellen then asked Geoffrey and Honey. "Were you two exchanging romantic words?"

"Well, that and we were discussing the terms of our contract,"

"Contract?" Tails frowned.

"Yup," Honey smiled. "Geoffrey has agreed to work as a model for my Oriental Fantasy line!"

"WHAT!?" The Freedom Fighters became surprised.

"It is quite the honor to have me work for one of Mobius's greatest fashion designers," Geoffrey gave Honey a loving look. "Isn't that right, luv?"

"Mmhmm," Honey replied while giving Geoffrey the same look.

"I can't believe this!" Tails whispered loudly at his teammates. "First, Conquering Storm and Lightning Lynx and now Geoffrey?!"

"I wonder what those three would look like when they wear Honey's clothes…" Amy said.

"By the way," Geoffrey turned towards Sally and Nicole. "would it be alright if I talk to the both of you in private?"

"May I ask why?" Nicole gave Geoffrey a questioning look.

"Well, you'll know once we do that," replied Geoffrey. "So, what do you say?"

"Alright, Nicole and I will go with you," said Sally. "Where shall we talk?"

"At the palace courtyard if you don't mind, luv," Geoffrey then turned to Honey and said, "I'll see you later, Honey," He then pecked Honey on the cheek.

"Okay, Geoffrey, see you later," With that, Honey walked towards another table. Sally, Nicole and Geoffrey then exited the dining hall.

"Where are those three going?" Elias, who had just seen what happened and came to the Freedom Fighters, asked.

"The courtyard. Geoffrey said he wanted to talk with Sally and Nicole in private there," said Sonic. Elias's face registered a look of shock.

"He said that?!" Elias then exclaimed.

"Yeah, why?" asked Sonic.

"I can't believe this," Elias placed one hand on his forehead. "Knowing Geoffrey he would most likely hit on my sister. I've got to stop him," Elias started to walk away.

"Whoa, hold on a sec, Elias," Sonic got off his seat and placed a hand on Elias's shoulder causing the latter to stop. "Sally will be fine. She won't easily fall for Geoffrey's charms,"

"Besides, it's nice for them to be romantic during the night," Excellen said flirtatiously.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Elias exclaimed after hearing Excellen's words. "As if I'd simply let my sister get seduced by the likes of Geoffrey!"

"If you're so worried about Sally, how about some of us go watch over them?" Tails said to Elias.

"Hmm... Zat is quite an interesting idea," Antoine placed his thumb and index finger under his chin. He then added with a mischievous smirk and a small twinkle next to his eye, "I would gladly like to see how our leader will deal with Geoffrey's 'advances',"

"Oh, stop it, you!" Bunnie playfully reprimanded Antoine.

"Well, I'd say spying on Geoffrey sounds like a good idea, Tails," stated Sonic. "So, who's up for it?"


	13. Chapter 12

Beowulf was chuckling to himself as he floated in the rift. He was engulfed in what appeared to be energy of different colors. As it glowed around his body, Beowulf marveled at the sight of them.

"Yes, yes!" Beowulf exclaimed menacingly. "At last, the emeralds' powers are mine! After waiting for a long time, I can finally return to my FORMER GLORY!" As Beowulf finished speaking, the energy enveloping his body burst out. A massive horde of Einsts then appeared around Beowulf.

"The time has come!" Beowulf then shouted. "I shall obliterate all that stands in front of me!"

(scene change)

Sally, Nicole and Geoffrey had arrived at the royal palace's courtyard and were standing a short distance away from it's entrance. Unbeknownst to them, they were followed by Sonic, Tails, Elias, Antoine and Bunnie. The five Mobians were hiding by the side of the courtyard's entrance, watching over the trio. Elias paid great attention towards Geoffrey, making sure that the latter did not do anything funny to his sister.

"Hey, Elias, I know you care for your sister but, you don't have to stare at Geoffrey like that you know," Sonic spoke loud enough for his company to hear.

"I have to do this, Sonic," replied Elias. "Chances are Geoffrey will try to hit on my sister,"

"Elias, the way you're behaving right now makes you look more like Sally's babysitter rather than her brother," Tails said.

"Well, thank you for the compliment," Elias gave Tails an unamused look.

"Shh!" Bunnie silenced everyone. "Those three are talking. Let's listen to whatever they're saying," Sonic and his company then eavesdropped on Sally, Nicole and Geoffrey's conversation.

"So, Geoffrey, what did you want to talk about?" Sally asked.

"Well, to begin with," Geoffrey looked at Nicole. "Nicole, you said I was once married to a Mobian named Hershey, correct?"

"Yes, I did, Geoffrey," said Nicole.

"What kind of person was she?"

"She's quite level headed," Sally answered Geoffrey. "And she's nice too especially towards you. Why are you asking about her?" Geoffrey paused for a moment.

"I see," Geoffrey closed his eyes and bowed his head down slightly. "She's just like her,"

"'Her'?" Sally said as she and Nicole began to look curious. Even Sonic and his company except Elias became curious upon hearing Geoffrey's words. Opening his eyes, Geoffrey then spoke.

"Would you two ladies care to hear a story?"

"A story?" asked Sally. Geoffrey turned serious as he was about to reply.

"I was once a member of a group of bounty hunters. They were known to employ whatever methods necessary to dispatch their targets no matter how cruel those methods were. Throughout my life, I along with them had killed people just to earn ourselves money," Sally and Nicole became slightly surprised. Even Sonic, Tails, Antoine and Bunnie were surprised. Elias however, was not too surprised.

"During my days with them, I believed that what I did was right. I thought that so long as I could gain money, it would all be fine. But, all that changed when I met a certain lady…"

"This lady you're talking about," Nicole said as a realization struck her. "Is she by any chance…?"

"Yes, luv," Geoffrey spoke as if he read Nicole's mind. "That lady's name is Hershey,"

"You met her?" Sally was surprised.

"Correct. And such a fine lady she was. She was like you said, level headed and nice. My meeting with her changed my life. Hershey was the one who made me realize the error of my ways. When that happened, not only did I vow to leave the bounty hunters but, we became intimate towards each other," As Geoffrey spoke, Sonic's group listened intently to his words.

"I decided to run away from my former friends together with Hershey and live with her. However, the hunters were aware of my plan. They disagreed to what I did. In a bid to convince me to stay with them, they kidnapped my lover and threatened to kill her,"

"But, I did not intend to give in to their threats. I confronted the hunters who held Hershey hostage. I managed to free Hershey from her captors and fought with them. In the middle of the fight, Hershey took a bullet that was meant for me. Enraged, I killed all of the hunters," Geoffrey's face turned sad.

"After the fight, I tended to Hershey's wounds only to find that she could not be saved. The hospital was too far away from where we were. As Hershey was about to breath her last, she told me to find my purpose in life and to never return to the path I had previously took no matter what happens. And just like that, she died in my arms,"

"After her death, I decided to travel around Mobius. That was when I met Elias. We ended up becoming partners and journeyed around Mobius. In one of our travels, we were sent to this world and ended up in Riksent. As for what happened after that, I assume you know the rest,"

Geoffrey then looked at Nicole. "You said you doubted me. Well, you have every right to do so. And so do your friends. I had done things which can never be forgiven. It's only natural for a person with a shady past like mine to not be trusted. And that concludes my story," There was a moment of silence. Sally and Nicole felt sympathetic over Geoffrey's story.

"Elias?" Antoine said. "Is what Geoffrey's saying true?"

"Yes," Elias nodded. "I didn't tell any one of you about this because I thought it was of no importance. The truth is, Geoffrey did tell me about his past. Deep down his heart, he has been shouldering it alone," Everyone in Sonic's group began to look sympathetic.

"Well, ah'm speechless," stated Bunnie. "Ah know Geoffrey's not the same person whom we thought to be but, ah never expected him to have such a past,"

"I didn't think Geoffrey would talk about his past to anyone aside from me," Elias said as he and his company looked at Sally, Nicole and Geoffrey. "Looks like I was mistaken about him hitting on my sister," Back at Sally's side, she began to speak to Geoffrey.

"You know, Geoffrey," said Sally. "I must admit that when I and my friends saw you during the fight at the city square, I was wary of you. Even when we were talking at the Sky Patrol, in my mind, I wasn't sure about trusting you,"

"But after hearing your story," Sally added. "I understand now. Like my brother said, you're not the Geoffrey whom we all know. Therefore, I should apologize on behalf of the Freedom Fighters for doubting you,"

"Are you saying you would trust me?" Geoffrey said to Sally and Nicole. "Even after knowing about my past?"

"Everyone has a past," Nicole stated. "It doesn't matter how bad your past was. So long as you move on, that is enough,"

"Even still, I could end up going back to the wrong path, no?" Geoffrey began to look worried.

"Don't worry about that," Sally said to Geoffrey. "If that were to happen, we'll stop you," Geoffrey was slightly surprised at Sally's words. "And also," Sally added. "we're very sorry for your loss,"

"My condolences as well, Geoffrey," Nicole stated. "And I should apologize once more for doubting you back at the Sky Patrol,"

Geoffrey began to be quiet for a short while. "In that case, I shall assist all of you in returning to Mobius to the best of my efforts," Geoffrey then spoke. "And… thank you,"

"You're welcome," Sally smiled. Sonic's group and Nicole smiled as well after listening to Sally and Geoffrey.

"Now aside from talking about the past," Geoffrey smiled while approaching Nicole. "The night is still young. What say…" Much to Sally, Nicole and Sonic's group's surprise, Geoffrey put his arm around Nicole's waist. As he gazed into Nicole's eyes he added, "…we go out on a date?"

"He's at it again!" Antoine stated. "Ze 'Hitman' has gotten another target!"

"But, why Nicole!?" Tails asked.

"Um… Geoffrey…" Nicole started to blush. "I don't think…"

"There's no need to be shy," Geoffrey spoke as he brought his face closer to Nicole's. "For an artificial intelligence, you're quite a sight-" Geoffrey was interrupted by the sound of Elias clearing his throat. Soon, Sally and her company saw Sonic's group standing at the courtyard's entrance.

"I hate to interrupt, Geoffrey," Elias looked at Geoffrey seriously. "But, haven't you hit on enough ladies for today?"

"Well, if it isn't our friends," Geoffrey moved away from Nicole.

"What are you doing here?" Sally asked Sonic's group.

"Let's just say we came here for a little stroll," Sonic said.

"More importantly, Geoffrey, you weren't fabricating that story earlier just to get close to Nicole, were you?" Tails looked at Geoffrey suspiciously.

"Oh, please!" Geoffrey replied with dissatisfaction. "I wouldn't lie just to get close to a lady,"

"Wait a minute. You listened to our conversation earlier?" Sally asked Sonic's group.

"Well, Elias here wanted to make sure Geoffrey did not hit on you," Sonic said to Sally. "We tagged along and yeah, we listened in to the whole conversation,"

"Fortunately, he didn't," Elias said. "I can't believe he aimed for Nicole though,"

"Well, she is a sight for sore eyes," Geoffrey gave Nicole a charming smile. Sally rolled her eyes upon seeing Geoffrey's action.

"Cut it out, Geoffrey," Elias spoke seriously.

"I was only commenting on her looks," Geoffrey raised his eyebrows.

"Anyway!" Sonic stated. "Aside from Geoffrey's womanizing exploits, I'd say we join our friends back at the dining hall and enjoy the rest of the night,"

"Oui, I agree," said Antoine.

"I'd say we do that," said Nicole.

"Let's go then," Sally said. Turning to Elias she added, "Oh, and brother, you didn't have to watch over me. I can take care of Geoffrey on my own if he does hit on me. But, still, thank you,"

"You should have seen the way Elias watched over you, Sally," Tails chuckled softly. "He looked more like a babysitter than a brother,"

"You didn't have to bring that up…" Elias sweatdropped.

"Well, let's get back to the dining hall and-"

"Guys!" Sonic was interrupted by Ryusei who ran into the courtyard and stopped in front of the Mobians.

"Oh, hey, Ryusei. What's the rush?" Sonic said.

"It's the city!" replied a worried looking Ryusei. "The city is under attack!"

"What?!" Elias exclaimed as he and the other Mobians became surprised.

"Could it be the Einst again?" asked Tails.

"It has to be them!" Ryusei said. "Come on, we got to go help the civilians!"

"Alright, Ryusei," Sally said. "Everyone, let's go!" Everyone nodded at Sally's words.

(scene change)

Beowulf was thrilled at what he was currently doing. He and an army of Einsts had just teleported into a square in Riksent's city. The moment they arrived, they laid waste on everything in their path. Some of the Einsts fired lasers towards structures. Some lashed out at innocent people who were unlucky enough to be in their way.

As the chaos unfolded, soldiers came in to take away the injured and fight the Einsts. Most of the soldiers were injured. Some were even sent flying by the Einsts. A few soldiers ran towards Beowulf, firing their guns at him. However, their attacks did not work on him.

"Foolish mortals," Beowulf walked towards the soldiers. Lifting one hand up, Beowulf launched a barrage of flames out of it towards the soldiers. "Die!" he shouted. The soldiers took the full brunt of the flames and were sent crashing into a shop's window. After that, Beowulf began to chuckle.

"Magnificent," he said. "Magnificent! To be able to trample over the weak humans! This is truly MAGNIFICENT!" Beowulf fired a bolt of thunder towards a group of civilians who were running away. The bolt exploded, sending the civilians flying.

"Run! Run!" Beowulf shouted as he unleashed fire and thunder onto his surroundings. "Cower before me, weak humans!" As Beowulf and his army continued to destroy things, the Mobians along with their human friends arrived at the scene.

"This is horrible!" Ryusei said as everyone witnessed the chaos. "We got to help the people!"

"Blaze, look!" Amy pointed towards Beowulf. As everyone looked at Beowulf, Blaze became surprised. Her face then turned angry and she said, "That's him! That's the being who stole the Sol Emeralds!"

"Are you sure?" Viletta asked.

"I'm positive!" Blaze replied. "We must face that monster now!"

"In that case, the Mobians will go and face that being," Sally suggested. "The rest of us should focus on helping the people,"

"I'll go with the Mobians too," Axel volunteered.

"I will follow as well," Sanger stated.

"If Axel wants to face that Einst, I'll follow too," said Alfimi.

"Well, let's get a move on!" Katina said. "People are getting hurt here!"

"Right! Let's go!" At Ryusei's words, the Mobians, Axel, Sanger and Alfimi headed towards Beowulf. The rest went to take the injured to safety and help the civilians escape. As the Mobians and their company reached Beowulf, Beowulf stopped his onslaught.

"Stop right there!" Axel shouted at Beowulf. Beowulf looked at the Mobians' group as the latter prepared to fight.

"Well, if it isn't Axel Almer," Beowulf said. Looking at Blaze, he added, "And the Mobian from whom I stole the emeralds from," Axel was slightly surprised at Beowulf's words.

"You monster!" Blaze said to Beowulf. "Give back the Sol Emeralds!"

"Patience," Beowulf replied. "First, let us talk," Beowulf lifted one hand up. Then, to everyone's surprise, the Einsts which were attacking the city left and teleported away.

"What's going on?" Sonic asked.

"I just had my minions leave this place," Beowulf said.

"I don't know what you're up to, Einst," Axel said. "But, I've got a question for you. How do you know my name?"

After a short pause, Beowulf replied, "You don't recognize me. Well, it is of no surprise since I am assuming this form,"

"What's he talking about?" Tails asked as he and the rest of the Mobians were puzzled.

"Perhaps, I should show you," Purplish flames began to envelop Beowulf. As the flames slowly left his body, the Mobians and their company slowly became shocked. Standing right in front of them was a person who looked just like Kyosuke Nanbu!

"Impossible!" Axel exclaimed. "You're…!"

"That's right," Beowulf who is now in his human form, gave a wicked grin. "I am BEOWULF,"


	14. Chapter 13

"How can this be?" Axel said. "You were supposed to be dead!"

"True," replied Beowulf. "But, I have returned from the dead once more,"

"Where are the Sol Emeralds?" Blaze then asked Beowulf. "Return them now!"

"As you wish," Beowulf raised his hand and conjured the emeralds. He then threw them down to the ground in front of the Mobians' group. As Blaze went to pick them up, she discovered much to her shock that the emeralds had lost their radiant colors.

"No, this can't be!" Blaze exclaimed as she examined the emeralds. "Why have the emeralds lost their color?" Seeing this, Amy shouted at Beowulf.

"Hey, you! What did you do to the emeralds?"

"I absorbed their powers and made them my own," Hearing Beowulf's reply, the Mobians became shocked.

"What?!" Blaze shouted.

"Absorbed the powers of the emeralds you say!?" Knuckles said.

"You were supposed to have perished a long time ago," Alfimi then spoke to Beowulf. "Yet, why are you here?"

"Do you really want to know?" Beowulf replied. After a short pause, he added, "Very well. I'll explain. At the time I was destroyed, my body perished. But, my consciousness survived and wandered around various worlds. As I wandered, I came across one thing which fascinated me,"

"The Sol Emeralds," Sanger said.

"Correct. And such beauty they had! The moment I approached them, I felt a strong resonance within me. At that moment, I realized if I were to return to my former glory, I must take the emeralds and harness their power,"

"As I returned to the rift between worlds, I waited there for a long time in order to regain my physical form. The moment I regained my physical body, I went back to the Sol Emeralds and fought against the Mobians guarding them,"

"What the fools didn't realize," Beowulf smirked. "was that while they were fully concentrated on me, my minions took the emeralds away,"

"And then when you took the emeralds, you absorbed their powers," Sally said. "And would I be correct to assume that you were the one responsible for sending the Einsts to attack the city square?"

"Quite right," Beowulf replied.

"In that case, let me ask you-Why are you attacking this kingdom?" Elias asked. "What is your aim in doing so?"

"My aim? That…" Beowulf put on an evil grin. "…would be to destroy everything,"

"Destroy everything?" Axel asked.

"First, I shall destroy this kingdom," stated Beowulf. "Then, I shall slowly destroy other places in this world until everything in it is completely obliterated. Once I am done with this world, I shall travel to other worlds and lay destruction on them,"

"Why did you pick Riksent as your first target then?" Nicole asked.

"Why?" Grinning wickedly, Beowulf replied, "Because it's thrilling,"

"What?" Axel said while looking slightly surprised.

"The moment I attained the Sol Emeralds' powers, I felt magnificent. And what better way to express that feeling than to trample over everything in front of me! This kingdom is the perfect place to test the extent of my powers! The moment I and my minions attacked Riksent, the humans panicked as they witnessed their beloved kingdom crumbling into ashes! And that is truly a wonderful sight for me to behold!"

"Are you saying that you're doing all this because it is fun?" Sanger asked.

"Well, you could say that," Beowulf gave an evil smile.

"Are you insane?" Honey was bewildered by Beowulf's words. "How can you call this fun? Attacking innocent people? Destroying worlds? Those are just wrong!"

"Insane?" said Beowulf. "I'm far from that. It's only natural for those with power to exert it however they please. Even if it means destroying everything around them,"

"Unforgivable," Blaze lit one of her hands with fire. "Not only have you stolen the emeralds but, you took their powers as well. Give them back!" Blaze launched a fireball towards Beowulf. Much to her surprise, Beowulf transformed into his alien form and blocked the fireball with one hand.

"Do not rush things," Beowulf lifted his hand down. "We don't need to fight now,"

"What do you mean?" asked Rotor.

"Tomorrow, I shall return to this kingdom and bring my kind to lay waste on it once more. When that time comes, you may fight me to your heart's content,"

"You bastard," Axel was angered at Beowulf's words. "Are you planning on turning Riksent into a warzone?! Don't screw with us!"

"Beowulf," Sally looked at Beowulf seriously. "I don't know why you find destroying things to be fun. But, I know one thing-As a princess myself, I will not stand to see this kingdom be destroyed by you and your kind. You will not get away with this!"

"Such bold words," Beowulf smirked. "Very well. I'll take my leave. Be prepared to be decimated by my hand tomorrow," With that, Beowulf began to teleport away.

"Wait!" Blaze ran forward. She stopped a short distance away from the group as soon as Beowulf fled. Seeing that Beowulf was gone, Blaze grunted softly.

"Curse that monster! First, he took the emeralds and now he took their powers as well!" Blaze clenched her fist. "I am definitely going to make him pay for this!"

Sally walked towards Blaze and placed a hand on the latter's shoulder. "I understand how you feel. But, first, we must come up with a plan to deal with this situation,"

"Sally's right. Standing here brooding over the emeralds won't solve a thing," Sonic said. Blaze paused for a moment.

"Do as you wish," Blaze said with a serious look on her face.

(scene change)

The night had become late. The Mobians and their human friends are having an emergency meeting in the Sky Patrol's war room, discussing their current situation. As everyone spoke, Blaze looked distraught.

"Beowulf is alive you say?!" Kyosuke said in surprise.

"Yes, he has returned," replied Axel who looked serious.

"But, how could this be!?" Katina exclaimed. "We defeated him during the Einsts' invasion long ago!"

"Apparently, he revived on his own. And not only that, Beowulf absorbed the powers of the emeralds and made them his own," The humans became surprised at Axel's words.

"Doesn't that mean that the Mobians can't return to their home?" asked Mai.

"Unfortunately, yes,"

"The situation has become worse," Ridal stated. "Not only have the Einsts attacked this kingdom twice, but, they will return here and repeat their actions. We must evacuate the citizens at once,"

"But, if we do that the people of Riksent may not like it," said Sally. "Even if they are safe from our upcoming fight with the Einsts, they won't want their home to be turned into a battleground for us to fight in,"

"How about sending the people into the shelters?" Ryusei suggested.

"A good idea but, it does not change the fact that Riksent will still be in danger," said Raidese.

"Then, what're we going to do?" Ryusei became worried. "We can't just let the people get involved in the fight!"

"I can see that everyone is tense because of our current predicament," Nicole stated. "But, before we continue discussing this matter…" Nicole looked at Axel. "It appears that you and your friends have previously known Beowulf. How is that so?" There was a moment of silence. Axel closed his eyes.

"To explain that, I will have to tell a story of the past," Axel opened his eyes. "To tell you the truth," he then said. "I came from another world. A world similar to Earth,"

"In that world, I was once a member of an organization called Shadow Mirror. Shadow Mirror was founded on the belief that through chaos, order will be maintained. At one point, Shadow Mirror came to this world in order to instill chaos into it and achieve it's goals,"

"However, as I was about to enter this world, I fought a man who stood in my way. This man was my former friend who fell under the Einsts' influence. His name was Beowulf. Beowulf, however, was only his codename. His real name is Kyosuke Nanbu," The Freedom Fighters looked at Kyosuke.

"Hang on a second," Rotor said. "Kyosuke was with us the whole time. How could he possibly be our enemy?"

"I can understand your confusion," Lamia said to Rotor. "In actuality, Axel is referring to another version of Kyosuke who came from his world,"

"In other words, an alternate version of Kyosuke Nanbu from a parallel world, correct?" inquired Nicole.

"You're correct," Axel said to Nicole.

"Zat explains why Beowulf looks like Monsieur Kyosuke," said Antoine.

"Kinda reminds you of Scourge and his pals, right?" Sonic whispered to Sally. He was referring to Scourge the Hedgehog, an enemy the Freedom Fighters fought back in the pre-Super Genesis Wave timeline and who looked like Sonic.

"Kind of," Sally whispered back.

"I defeated Beowulf in my world before entering this one," Axel continued. "However, at one point in this world, he came back even stronger. At that time, I allied with the Earth Federation to take down Beowulf and he was defeated for good. At least, that's what I had thought that time…"

"How come the Shadow Mirror didn't help you fight Beowulf back then?" asked Tails.

"Because before Beowulf appeared in this world, Shadow Mirror was defeated and crumbled. Axel left the organization when that happened," said Tetsuya.

"Okay, so basically, we're fighting an evil twin of Kyosuke's who has come back from the dead. Not once but, a few times," Sonic said to Axel. Axel kept quiet for a moment.

"As a matter of fact, yes,"

"You said Beowulf was once your friend," Amy said. "So, why did he end up becoming evil?" Axel began to narrow his eyes.

"Beowulf was once involved in a shuttle accident triggered by the Einsts. The Einsts imbued him with their powers enabling him to survive the accident. At first, he lived out his life normally and we worked together. However, over time, we had a difference in ideals. On top of that, Beowulf began to act abnormally due to his powers,"

"What do you mean?" asked Elias.

"Beowulf obtained a demonic power which enabled him to perform highly extraordinary feats. But, in turn, that power drove him insane. He devolved into babbling nothing but recreating the universe. He killed anyone who got into his way, murdering friend and foe alike," All the Mobians except Storm, Lightning and Blaze became horrified. Storm's eyes were covered by her hat's shadow. Blaze looked even more distraught.

"Sacrebleu…" Antoine spoke softly.

"A man who has become consumed by power and turned into a monster," Lightning spoke with a serious tone. "This is something that cannot be ignored," Cream looked at Blaze and moved next to her.

"Miss Blaze, are you alright? You don't look so good," Cream asked Blaze with concern.

"Chao…" Cheese looked concerned.

"Yes… I'm fine, Cream," Blaze spoke, the look of distraught on her face disappearing. Sonic then looked at Blaze.

"Blaze, we know you're worried about the emeralds. Don't worry. We'll do everything we can to restore the emeralds' powers," Sonic assured her.

"I agree with Sonic," Geoffrey said with a serious look on his face. "This situation is more serious than I've thought. However, we must think about this from a positive perspective,"

"A positive perspective?" Sally said as she and her teammates looked at Geoffrey curiously.

"Precisely," replied Geoffrey, still looking serious. "For instance…" Geoffrey suddenly put on a smile and added, "…once we protect Riksent from Beowulf, all of the kingdom's fine women shall praise and revere me as their savior," The Freedom Fighters, Blaze, Knuckles and Elias gave Geoffrey a deadpan look. Storm's eyes were covered by her hat's shadow and Lightning raised his eyebrows.

"What kind of statement is that?" said a surprised Elias. "We're in the middle of a serious situation and you have time to talk about women?!"

"Now, now," replied Geoffrey. "Yes, we are indeed in the middle of a serious situation. But, we have to loosen up a little. Don't you agree, luv?" Geoffrey placed an arm around Honey's waist.

"Yes! At times like this, we got to stay positive!" Honey replied cheerfully.

"How can you be so cheerful at a time like this?" Tails asked Honey. Honey then began to look serious.

"Guys, I know the severity of the situation. In fact, deep down, I'm disturbed about what's going on right now," Honey then reverted to her cheerful demeanor and said, "But, on the plus side, all that we will be going through may give me inspiration for my fashion designs!"

"Unbelievable…" Sally said as she and her teammates along with Blaze, Knuckles and Elias sweatdropped. The humans stared at Geoffrey and Honey with some of them having deadpan looks on their faces.

"She's quite the cheerful person, isn't she?" Joshua spoke to Cliana with raised eyebrows.

"She is…" replied a slightly dumbfounded Cliana.

"Anyway, we must find a way to deal with Beowulf's next attack and protect Riksent from any harm at the same time," said Tetsuya.

"For that, we will have to determine which part of Riksent he would strike next," commented Elzam.

"I think that is not the case," stated Nicole.

"What do you mean?" asked Elzam.

"This is only a theory but, Beowulf may not attack one part of Riksent like how he did previously. We will have to assume the worst case scenario,"

"What is this scenario?" asked Lefina.

"It may be possible that Beowulf will attack all parts of Riksent simultaneously tomorrow. In other words, he will aim to wipe out this kingdom in one fell swoop," Nicole's statement made everyone in the room slightly surprised.

"Why would you say that?" Sean asked. Nicole paused for a moment and began to look serious.

. "It is because Beowulf appears to be one who misuses his power and toys with the lives of innocent people. Not only that, his destructive powers as well as his desire for destruction makes him highly dangerous. There is no telling what atrocities he would commit next. That is why we must assume that he will perform something extremely merciless,"

"And that would be attacking the whole of Riksent?" asked Sanger.

"Precisely,"

"If what Nicole says is true, then, we will have to make another assumption," said Ariel. "Beowulf could not only bring Einsts that are of human size alone here. He could even end up bringing those that are the size of Personal Troopers,"

"If that's the case, perhaps the best way to protect Riksent is to move the fight with the Einsts away from the kingdom," said Tsugumi.

"But, how are we going to do that?" asked Ibis.

"It appears that all of you are discussing a serious matter," Everyone turned towards the room's door. Much to some of the humans' surprise, standing in front of it was a man with purple medium long hair and a small blue bird perched atop his shoulder. This man was none other than Shu Shirakawa, pilot of the Granzon. The bird on his shoulder is his familiar, Chika.

"It has been a long time, gentlemen," Shu said with his usual smile.


	15. Chapter 14

"You… You're Shu Shirakawa!" Eita said, slightly surprised.

"How did he come here?" Ibis asked.

"By piloting the Granzon," Shu walked towards everyone. "When I asked the Hagane's staff about Tetsuya's whereabouts, I was told to come here," As Shu stopped in front of everyone, his eyes moved towards the Mobians.

"Oh?" Shu became intrigued by the Mobians' appearance. "You have quite some interesting guests here,"

"Who is this person?" Tails whispered to his teammates.

"That's Shu Shirakawa," said Nicole. "According to the Hagane's database, he is a scientist who pilots the Granzon which he single-handedly designed,"

"That's right!" said Chika. "And he may not look like it but, my master's a kind person so you better treat him with respect!" The Mobians were surprised upon hearing Chika.

"A talking bird?!" Bunnie exclaimed.

"I'm no ordinary bird! I'm the great Chika, familiar of the almighty Shu Shirakawa!"

"Chika, you're being rude," Shu said sternly.

"What brings you here, Shu?" Tetsuya asked.

"That's what I came to explain," Shu replied. "But, first, perhaps you would like to explain about our guests here?"

"Yes, of course," Shu and the Mobians were introduced to each other. Shu was even given an explanation about the Sol Emeralds, the Einsts' return and Beowulf's plan to attack Riksent.

"Interesting," Shu remarked. "I did not expect to come across such a development,"

"Development?" asked Raidese. Shu then explained that recently, he had created a prototype machine which enabled him to detect dimensional disturbances in planet Earth. While testing it, he identified a few disturbances with the last one being at Riksent.

"At first, I thought nothing of the disturbances," Shu said. "However, I then decided to confirm their existence by investigating them myself. I embarked for Riksent with the Granzon and upon arriving here, the first place I headed to was the hangar,"

"It was then that I saw the Hagane and Hiryu Kai along with this ship here. I theorized that all of you are here. My presence here is proof that I was right,"

"But, to think that I would meet a group of beings that are not human…" Shu smiled. "Perhaps, this is not a coincidence. The dimensional disturbances must have been caused by the Mobians' arrival on Earth as well as the Einsts' arrival at Riksent,"

"What are you getting at?" asked Tetsuya.

"I'm about to come into that," replied Shu. ""Initially, I had come to research the disturbances detected by my machine. But, since I have arrived I might be able to do something better,"

"Something better?" said Russel.

"Precisely," Shu stated. "I might have a way to prevent Riksent from being harmed by the Einsts,"

"You seriously do?" Katina asked as everyone became slightly surprised.

"How exactly would you achieve that?" Sally asked.

"By using the Granzon," Shu answered. "For those among you who do not know, the Granzon possesses an antimatter annihilation engine which grants it gravity and time-space manipulation. With this, the Granzon is capable of creating wormholes,"

"I had deduced that by exerting the engine to it's maximum capabilities, the Granzon will be able to create a wormhole which would be as large as this kingdom itself. We can use the said wormhole to redirect any Einsts that may approach Riksent to a different place-Preferably, a place where the fighting is away from the kingdom,"

"What kind of Personal Trooper is capable of such a feat?" asked Rotor, a slight hint of wonder in his voice.

"One that is designed by my own hands naturally," Shu smiled.

"But, what guarantee is there that this will work?" Tsugumi spoke to Shu. "In fact, have you even tried doing that before?"

"I have not tested that method before," replied Shu. "However, given how things stand, what I am proposing now is perhaps our best solution to the current situation,"

"Master Shu's right you know," stated Chika. "Unless you all want your kingdom to be destroyed,"

""How can you say that so casually?!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Lives are at stake here!"

"Well, aren't you being hot-headed," Shu commented. "Your response reminds me of someone who I was once at odds with,"

"But, that aside, as direct as Chika's words may be, they are true. So, what will it be? Do you all agree with my proposal? Or perhaps all of you have a better idea to deal with the Einsts?" Everyone became quiet and thought about Shu's words. Sally began to step forward.

"Let us follow Shu's idea,"

"Yer sho bout this Sal?" asked Bunnie. Sally closed her eyes.

"Once, my kingdom was overtaken and ruled by a tyrant. We, the Freedom Fighters, were able to retake the kingdom and restore order to it. It is because of this experience that we know what it's like for a kingdom to be in danger," Sally opened her eyes. "And Riksent is currently being endangered by evil just like how my kingdom once had been. Therefore, I am willing to accept Shu's proposal,"

"But, what if Shu's method does not work?" asked a concerned Ryusei.

"Regardless of whether it works or not, it does not change one thing," A look of determination appeared on Sally's face. "I will fight together with my friends to protect this kingdom. And I'm doing this not just because I share the same status as Princess Shine. But, it is also because I cherish Riksent just as how I cherish my own kingdom!"

"I agree with Sally," Blaze nodded. "As guardian of the Sol Emeralds and a princess myself, I will not allow Beowulf to misuse their powers any further. Hence, I too shall protect Riksent even if it means expending all of my powers in doing so!"

"If Sally and Blaze are saying that, I'm in too!" Sonic stated.

"As shall we," Lightning spoke seriously. "We cannot allow the likes of Beowulf to continue his rampage. He must be stopped," Storm nodded at her husband's words. Given the current situation, everyone was clearly in agreement with Sally and Blaze's words.

"Then, it is decided," Shine spoke with determination. Turning to Shu, she added, "Shu Shirakawa, we will accept your assistance in protecting Riksent tomorrow," Shine turned to Ridal and said, "Ridal, I apologize for having to trouble you but, would you please ask our kingdom's military to send a message to Riksent's citizens?"

"What is it, princess?" asked Ridal.

"The military is to tell all of the citizens to gather at the royal palace tomorrow morning at 9 am. If the citizens ask why, it is because I must address an important matter to them,"

"I shall do that immediately," Ridal immediately left the war room.

"Well, with that settled," Sonic yawned. "I guess we all should go get some shut-eye. I'm kinda beat right now,"

"Me too," Tails said. "Today was quite an eventful day,"

"Well, if you all would like how about staying at the royal palace?" Shine said to everyone. "We have rooms for everyone,"

"Really?" Honey's eyes gleamed with excitement. "We can stay there?!"

"You don't mind if we do?" asked Tails.

"I don't mind at all," Shine smiled. "Besides, the Mobians have helped to fight the Einsts earlier. So, this is my way of thanking all of you,"

"Hey, that's pretty swell, guys!" Sonic said to his friends.

"If that is the case, we accept your offer with gratitude," Sally said to Shine with a smile.

"Well, then," Geoffrey said. "I suppose I'll find a room in the palace just for the two of us," Placing one arm around Honey's waist, he looked at her lovingly and said, "And maybe we can have a nice quiet night together. What do you say, luv?"

"Sounds great," Honey replied with a romantic smile. Seeing Geoffrey and Honey, Elias cleared his throat.

"If you want to act all romantic, I suggest you save that until after our battle," Elias spoke to the couple.

"Aw, come on, Elias. Don't be so serious. Let them have their fun!" Excellen said sassily.

"Those two Mobians are making me a little queasy," Chika commented about Geoffrey and Honey with disgust.

"But, their behavior is quite intriguing, isn't it?" Shu stated. "To think that Mobians are capable of interspecies coupling…" Giving a soft chuckle, Shu added, "…I would like to see the result of such an act,"

"Well, aren't you being curious, Shu," Nicole looked at the scientist curiously.

"I am a researcher," replied Shu. "And it's a researcher's nature to be curious about things, no?"

"I don't mean to be direct but, we all should get some rest now unless we're going to spend the whole night being 'curious' like Shu here," Sonic stated.

"Before that, I would like to ask," Nicole turned to Shu. "Is the Granzon really a powerful machine? You spoke as if it was,"

Letting out another soft chuckle, Shu replied, "You shall see tomorrow. For now, I think we should rest for the night just like what the blue hedgehog said,"

"With that, I shall take my leave first," Shu turned around and headed to the war room's door. Everyone looked at him as he exited the room.

"He's got quite a way with words doesn't he?" asked Rotor.

"That is how he carries himself out most of the time," Elzam said.

"By the way, how did you all know Shu?" Sonic asked the humans.

"It is a long story," said Tetsuya. "For now, we should rest for the night,"

"Agreed!" Honey spoke cheerfully. "I can't wait to see what the palace's rooms are like! Just thinking of staying in them makes me feel like a princess!" Honey began to look dreamy.

"And I will be your prince who shall sleep by your side," Geoffrey hugged Honey's waist.

"Oh, you're so gentlemanly, Geoffrey!" giggled Honey.

Shine chuckled at Geoffrey and Honey's behavior. "Well, then, allow me to lead everyone to your rooms,"

"Very well, princess," At Tetsuya's words, everyone moved out of the war room to rest for the night.

(scene change)

In the rift, Beowulf was using the Sol Emerald's powers to summon something. Emerging in front of him was a gigantic Einst which had reptilian-like traits and eight heads. Once, the summoning was complete the Einst let out a soft growl.

"It is complete," Beowulf said. "With this Einst Hydraloid which I have formed with my new powers, I shall bring Riksent to ruin,"

"And now my greatest creation!" Beowulf spoke to the Hydraloid. "Together we shall show all who oppose us the might of the Einst!" In response to Beowulf, the Hydraloid roared loudly.

(scene change)

A new morning had arrived at Riksent. The kingdom's citizens were gathered in front of the royal palace. Princess Shine was standing on the palace's balcony facing the crowd. With her are the Mobians, Sanger and Elzam.

"Citizens of Riksent," Shine spoke, her voice emanating across the crowd. "I thank you for gathering here this morning. I understand that everyone is concerned about the recent attacks on our kingdom by the monsters. However, please remain calm as I am about to inform all of you about a serious matter,"

"The leader of the monsters, who calls himself Beowulf, had declared that he will come to this kingdom once more today. He is planning to wipe out this kingdom with his forces," Hearing this, the citizens became uneasy. Some of them began talking amongst themselves.

"I know that all of you are afraid," Shine hushed the citizens. "And I am certain that all of you are questioning why the Einsts are attacking our kingdom. For that, I shall have two people enlighten all of you on this matter,"

"Citizens of Riksent, I present to you Princess Sally and Princess Blaze," Sanger helped Sally and Blaze up onto the wall of the balcony. As the two Mobians stood facing the citizens, the latter looked at the duo with wonder.

"People of Riksent," Blaze spoke. "I am sure that all of you want to know what is going on. And I am certain that most of you are wondering who I and my friends actually are. To answer your concerns, I must first show all of you one thing," Blaze then took out the Sol Emeralds and showed them to the citizens.

"My friends and I are beings called Mobians, hailing from the world of Mobius. In our world, there exists objects with mystical powers called the Sol Emeralds which are in my hands now," Blaze kept the emeralds. "I am the keeper of the Sol Emeralds who guards them from evil. One day, Beowulf stole these emeralds from me. I and my friends were brought into this world in order to find the emeralds. However, though we had retrieved them, Beowulf had robbed the emeralds off their powers and made them his own. It is with those powers that he will destroy this kingdom,"

"The main point is that all this have occurred because I was careless in guarding the emeralds. And because of that all of you have become involved in our fight against the monsters," Blaze closed her eyes and bowed her head down slightly. "For that, I must apologize," Sally gave Blaze a concerned look.

"Perhaps most of you are angry and afraid upon hearing my words," Lifting her head back up, she added with determination, "If that is the case, I will make it up to all of you. Together with my friends, I will fight with Princess Shine to protect this kingdom. And I will do this, even if it means exhausting myself until I collapse!"

"And that concludes what I have to say," Blaze paused for a moment. "If my words are not enough to calm any feelings of anger or fear you may have, I understand," she added. Silence filled the air. The citizens had serious looks on their faces. Soon, a woman who stood in front of the citizens stepped forward.

"I believe in you," she then said to Blaze. "Your kind has been friendly towards us. In fact, yesterday, my child and his friends got along with two of your friends," Storm and Lightning's eyebrows were raised upon hearing the woman's words.

"Storm, could it be?" Lightning asked.

"Yes," replied Storm. "It has to be those children whom we met at the beach yesterday,"

"It doesn't matter why those monsters are attacking our home!" exclaimed a man from the crowd. "We believe in Princess Shine as well as her friends regardless of where they're from and how they look! Therefore, we're not angry nor are we afraid!"

"That's right!" said another man. "Besides, if it weren't for those Mobians, our kingdom would have been destroyed!" The citizens were reacting positively to Blaze's words. Shine, Sanger, Elzam and the Mobians were pleased at their responses. Deep in their hearts, Blaze and Sally were slightly touched.

"People," Sally said as the citizens quieted down. "I understand that this kingdom has shelters for all of you to seek refuge in. However, in the event that the monsters attack this kingdom, you are not required to head there. Instead, you are to stay in your respective homes and remain there until the situation is solved,"

"The reason for this is that we have devised a way to prevent this kingdom from being involved in the ensuing attack. However, there is no telling whether it will work or not as it is something which has not been tested yet,"

"Despite this, do not fear about what will happen next. Instead, you are to remember one thing-Today is not the day where you are to cower in fear of our enemies. Today is not the day where you are to fight them either. Today is the day where you are to cherish the time you spend with your loved ones no matter what happens,"

"And to ensure that," Sally spoke with determination. "I and my friends will protect this kingdom with our lives! This is because just as how Princess Shine cherishes this kingdom, I too cherish it as well! People of Riksent, let us join hands in protecting this kingdom for a better tomorrow!"

Hearing Sally's words, a man standing in front of the citizens stepped forward. Turning to face the rest of the citizens, he shouted, "Everyone! Let us cheer for Princess Shine and her friends! Let us also remember the faces of the people who saved our kingdom, the Mobians!" The citizens began cheering loudly and praised Princess Shine and the Mobians. Once the cheering subsided, Shine concluded the gathering with a word of thanks and the citizens went back to their everyday routines.

"Your speeches were wonderful, both of you," Elzam said to Blaze and Sally as the duo came down from the balcony's wall.

"Thank you, Elzam," Sally said as everyone gathered around her and Blaze.

"Now that we have the citizens informed of the situation, we have one more thing to accomplish," said Sanger.

"That is correct," Lightning said. "The safety of Riksent is in our hands now,"

"Everyone," Sally spoke. "Let us do our best for a brand new tomorrow!" Most of the Mobians cheered loudly after Sally spoke. Storm and Lightning nodded in approval. With that, the group, filled with determination, left to prepare themselves for the upcoming battle.


	16. Chapter 15

At Riksent, soldiers have been stationed in various parts of the kingdom in case they need to fend off any attacks. Shine is currently travelling around the city conversing with the people as a way of raising their morale. Above the kingdom, the Granzon, piloted by Shu, stood still in the air. Circling it are the Hagane, Hiryu Kai and Sky Patrol.

Currently, the Personal Trooper pilots sans Shu, Axel and Alfimi are seated in their machines, waiting to launch out of the Hagane and Hiryu Kai. Axel and Alfimi have volunteered to accompany the Sky Patrol in their respective machines. This was because Axel and Alfimi wanted to personally assist the Mobians in defeating Beowulf.

The plan was that everyone is to wait for Beowulf and the Einsts to appear. When that happens, Shu will use the Granzon's power to send the Einsts to a different place. After that, everyone is to go to the location they are sent at and fight them.

"There is no telling what Beowulf may bring to Riksent," Tetsuya was talking to everyone using a public communication line. "Be on your guard and be safe,"

"We understand, Captain Tetsuya," said Sally. The Mobians were in the Sky Patrol's bridge with Nicole projected from a terminal as a hologram. An image of the Granzon was shown in the bridge's monitor.

"If I may change the topic, your Personal Trooper appears to be quite imposing, Shu," Nicole remarked while looking at the monitor.

"Well, 'imposing' is perhaps one way to call the Granzon," said Shu. "Then again, how one would call it depends on whether one is an ally or an enemy,"

"Whatever people call it, you won't want to make an enemy out of the Granzon," Ryusei said. "We've fought against it,"

"You have?" asked Tails.

"Yeah, and as for why we fought the Granzon, it's a bit of a long story," said Ryusei. "And get this-What you're seeing of the Granzon now is not all there is to it,"

"What do you mean?" Rotor looked curious.

"It means the Granzon has greater power than you can imagine," Shu smiled. "But, let us not spoil anything further about the Granzon shall we? As I have mentioned last night, you all will witness the might of the Granzon with your own eyes,"

"You seem pretty confident with your machine," Lightning commented.

"Heh... I suppose," Shu smirked.

"The Granzon aside," Sonic looked at Storm and Lightning. "Mind if I ask you two one thing?"

"What is it?" asked Storm.

"Well, how's it like being married? I never thought of you two as the marrying kind," Lightning blinked his eyes.

"Let's just say that it's exposed us to a different way of living life," Lightning replied.

"Do you have any kids?" Amy asked the Raiju couple.

"As a matter of fact, we do not have any children of our own," Storm said. "We have been dedicating most of our time to fighting all manner of evils so, the thought of having children have not crossed our minds yet,"

"Is that so?" Honey said.

"Yes, what about it?" Lightning asked.

"Well, I was just thinking that maybe, you and Storm actually thought of having a child in your room yesterday night," Honey gave the Raiju ninjas a naughty look. "And when that came to mind, well, you know…"

"What are you talking about?" Lightning raised an eyebrow. Nicole began to chuckle softly.

"She's asking if you and Storm have engaged in an act of coitus last night," Storm's eyes were covered by her hat's shadow and Lightning was taken aback. Geoffrey whistled at Nicole's words.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Lightning's face showed a mixture of bewilderment and embarrassment. "We are ninjas who abide by moral principles! We are not like the youth of the current age who would simply perform such an indecent act freely wherever they are! Even if we were to engage in such a thing, we will only do it when the time is right!" The Mobians stared at Lightning, their mouths slightly open out of surprise. The humans, who heard the conversation over the line, wondered what was going on.

"Ah, my apologies," Lightning quickly regained his composure. "It appears I allowed my emotions to take the better of me," Storm began to clear her throat.

"Please forgive my husband," Storm said. "He can get worked up when it comes to embarrassing matters,"

"Hmm…" Honey gave Lightning a mischievous smirk. "Now, that's a side of Lightning I never expected," Lightning became surprised.

"I must admit, that is something indeed," Antoine stood in front of Lightning and gave the same smirk.

"Yer dun say, Suga-Twan," Bunnie followed suit.

"Y-You people!" Lightning said as his embarrassment slowly returned.

"Now, now, there's no need to be embarrassed," Geoffrey smiled. "We all have a hidden side to ourselves,"

"E-Enough of this!" Lightning tried to hide his embarrassment. "Right now, we need to focus on our mission to protect Riksent! Whether Storm and I have a child or not is not for us to discuss now!" Storm bowed her head slightly and chuckled at her husband's behavior softly.

"Attention to everyone!" Everyone was alerted by Adzuki. "We have detected a large energy signature above us! Prepare yourselves immediately!"

"So, they've come," Lightning said.

"Nicole, get us an image of what's above the Sky Patrol," Sally turned to Nicole.

"Understood," Nicole projected a screen. In the screen, an enormous portal is seen materializing in the sky. Descending from the portal is a huge number of gigantic Einsts led by the Einst Hydraloid. Standing on top of one of the Hydraloid's heads is Beowulf. As the Einsts made their descent, the kingdom's people quickly went into their homes. The soldiers stood at their positions and prepared themselves. Shine was standing next to a group of soldiers at a street and telling people to remain calm. Seeing the huge army, the Mobians were shocked.

"Gadzooks!" Antoine exclaimed. "Those Einsts are much more huge than ze ones we fought yesterday!" T-Pup barked once as if it agreed with Antoine.

"Do not be alarmed," Shu said as he moved the Granzon upwards. "This is where I come in,"

"And now Mobians," A smile crept across Shu's face. "Witness the true power of the Granzon,"

"Everyone, look!" Tails pointed towards the Sky Patrol's bridge's monitor. What the Mobians saw next made them filled with surprise and awe. The Granzon became enveloped in dark purple energy. Within seconds, it changed into a different form. The Granzon was now more enormous and sported a blue and yellow color scheme with a halo-like object on it's back. Noticing the Granzon's transformation, Beowulf looked at it with wonder.

As soon as the Granzon completed it's transformation, it raised it's hands up and its chest opened up. Out of it's chest emerged three yellow spherical objects which began to amass energy. Utilizing the amassed energy, the Granzon summoned a purple portal the size of Riksent above it. The portal began to slowly pull the Einst army towards it with a strong gravitational force.

"What do you think?" Shu spoke. "This is the true form of the Granzon, the Neo Granzon. It is in this form that the Granzon's powers can be exerted to it's utmost potential,"

"Well, butter mah tail and call me a corn cob!" Bunnie stated.

"I've seen machines with advanced capabilities of their own," Rotor remarked. "But, this takes the cake,"

"To think that the Granzon is capable of changing into a stronger form almost instantly…" Nicole said. "That can be terrifying,"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Shu made a smirk. As the Einsts are pulled into the portal, Beowulf began to fly off where he stood. "Interesting," he remarked. "To think that humans are capable of performing such a feat. But, that will not stop me," Beowulf began to fly towards a certain direction. Back inside the Neo Granzon's cockpit, Shu began to detect Beowulf's movement in his radar.

"Now isn't this unexpected," Shu's words gained everyone's attention.

"What is it?" Tetsuya asked.

"I am detecting a small energy signal which is moving out of the portal's range. The portal is meant to have a gravitational pull strong enough to attract the Einsts, yet one of them is able to resist the gravitational force of the portal itself,"

"Could it be Beowulf?" Axel asked.

"That would presumably be the case," replied Shu.

"Where is he headed?" asked Sally.

"Based on the direction he is heading, I would say he is headed to one of the forest areas east of where we are," Shu calculated Beowulf's route with the Neo Granzon's controls. "The said area is very close to Riksent,"

"If that's the case, the Mobians and I will go after Beowulf," Sally said. "We need to intercept him in case he tries to attack Riksent,"

"I'll go with you as well," Axel said to the Mobians.

"I'll follow Axel too," said Alfimi.

"Understood," Tetsuya said. "The rest of us will fight the Einsts that are sent into the portal," After Shu transmitted the coordinates of Beowulf's destination to the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit, the three machines flew off to pursue Beowulf. At that time, the Einst army was about to be completely sucked into the portal.

"Be safe all of you," Tetsuya quietly wished Sally and her company.

(scene change)

In a large forest clearing, Beowulf landed in the center of it. Upon landing, Beowulf began to look at his surroundings. The ground of the clearing was covered with green grass. Trees surrounded the area. All was quiet.

"This place…" Beowulf spoke to himself. "It is beautiful. Truly one of the best things spawned by Mother Nature,"

"But, no matter what it is that I see… No matter how they may look, I will destroy everything around me," As Beowulf spoke, he looked up to see the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit descending into a group of trees far ahead of him.

"It appears some obstacles have arrived…" After a short while, the Mobians, Axel and Alfimi emerged from out of the trees ahead of Beowulf. The group led by Axel and Alfimi, ran towards Beowulf. They ran until they stopped a short distance from Beowulf.

"There you are, Beowulf!" Axel readied the Mizuchi.

"The game's up, Beowulf!" Sonic said. "You thought you could waste Riksent in one fell swoop but, we've managed to prevent that! If you're still gonna lay a finger on Riksent though, we'll have to kick your butt!"

"It does not matter how many of you come at me," Beowulf spoke in a condescending tone. "I have the power of the Sol Emeralds imbued in me. With them, trampling over mere mortals like all of you is a walk in the park,"

"You're pretty full of yourself," Knuckles stated.

"As I have said before, all of you shall be decimated by my hand. The same shall go for your friends. They may have moved my kind away from Riksent but, they will soon learn the terror of my army," After Beowulf spoke, Amy stepped forward.

"Beowulf, there's something I want to ask you," All eyes were on Amy. After a brief pause, Amy continued, "You said destroying things is so fun to you. Why do you say that?!"

"What are you asking?" Axel was surprised. "This isn't the time to ask Beowulf about trivial matters!"

"No!" Amy retorted, her eyes fixated on Beowulf. "I want to know the truth! Axel said that you and him were once friends! And now you've become a monster who thinks nothing but destroying everything! Why would you turn your back on your friend and become what you are now?!" For a moment, Beowulf was silent.

"I no longer care about the past," The Einst replied. "All that matters is one thing-Creation is destruction. Destruction is creation. All things are born from chaos. Without it, there is no order. Therefore, everyone desires chaos,"

"What's he talking about?" Tails looked confused.

"Don't listen to him!" Axel stated seriously. "There is no point in making sense of his words! Beowulf is just a madman driven by power! That's all that's left of him!"

"On the contrary," Nicole spoke from her handheld which was strapped to Sally's hips. "I think I can understand Beowulf's words. What Axel said about Beowulf is true. However, I have come to the conclusion that Beowulf's actions are driven by one thing. It is the fact that Beowulf is not just one who revels in destruction. He lives to destroy all things around him,"

"Simply put," Nicole's voice turned serious. "Destruction is his only purpose,"

"That's right," Beowulf sounded sinister. "I failed to recreate the universe. As such, I have decided to adhere to one belief-If recreation is not feasible, then destruction is the path that I will seek! I shall reduce everything to nothingness because it is from nothingness that all life is born!"

"You're insane," Elias stated, his eyes wide open.

"Beowulf, I don't really know what you're trying to get at, but I've only got two words to say about what you just said," Sonic gave Beowulf a displeased look. "Not. Cool."

"Beowulf," Blaze looked at the Einst seriously. "I will not allow the likes of you to continue your rampage. Not only shall we stop you from inflicting more chaos, we will retrieve the power of the Sol Emeralds as well. We will defeat you on this spot right now!"

"Very well," Beowulf said after pausing for a moment. Suddenly, the group began to feel a strong sense of dread permeating in the air. Storm and Lightning felt their fur stand up. "I shall take the pleasure in tearing all of you apart!"

"Wh-What is this?" Sally looked worried. "I'm suddenly getting a very bad feeling…"

"That is Beowulf's killing intent," Lightning spoke seriously. "But, this is far stronger than what we had felt when we first faced him," Beowulf began to take a step forward.

"And now foolish mortals," Beowulf's voice was filled with malevolence. "Be destroyed,"


	17. Chapter 16

A few miles away from Riksent, the Hagane and Hiryu Kai along with their respective Personal Trooper squadrons were engaging the Einsts above the ocean. The lesser Einsts were being eliminated quickly by the Personal Troopers. However, the Einst Hydraloid proved to be a challenge. It extended and lashed out it's eight heads towards any enemies it saw. On top of that, any injuries the Hydraloid received healed rapidly.

"****, what is this thing?!" Katina said as she and the rest of the Octo Squad looked at the Hydraloid. "No matter how many times we fire at it, it just keeps regenerating!" Just as Katina finished speaking, Shu had dispatched the last of the lesser Einsts with a swing of the Neo Granzon's Granworm Sword.

"That is clearly not an ordinary Einst we're dealing with," Shu commented as the Neo Granzon lowered it's sword. "That Einst was most probably created by Beowulf using the powers of the Sol Emeralds. It would be troubling if we do not deal with it quickly,"

"We must not let it advance any further," Elzam spoke. "Riksent is not far away from us. If we do not neutralize this Einst, it will reach the kingdom and attack it!"

(scene change)

Back at the Mobians' side, the battle with Beowulf was fierce. The Einst was launching a barrage of flames, thunder and tornadoes towards the group. Everyone dispersed towards different directions, evading Beowulf's attacks. At one point, Geoffrey turned into smoke and whizzed towards Beowulf and swung his rod towards the latter. Beowulf blocked the attack with one arm.

Enveloping his free hand with fire, Beowulf swung it towards Geoffrey, only for the latter to quickly fly away and land next to Elias. Elias switched his sword to crossbow mode and fired at Beowulf. To Elias's surprise, Beowulf summoned a wall of ice to shield himself. The wall was shattered into smithereens by Elias's attack, leaving Beowulf unscathed. Tails and Rotor fired their blasters at Beowulf. The duo's attacks were just swept away by Beowulf using one arm.

"Our attacks aren't working!" Tails remarked as everyone circled around Beowulf.

"He has become far stronger than when we first encountered him," Lightning spoke. "To think that the Sol Emeralds would make him this strong!"

"We can only defeat him if we fight as one!" Sally said to the group.

"I'll take the lead then!" Sonic began to run around Beowulf at blinding speed. As if following his cue, Honey used her agility to dash around Beowulf, creating multiple afterimages of herself. Storm and Lightning joined the duo by dashing around Beowulf in repeated bursts of lightning. The rest of the group prepared to make their moves.

"Quite a bold move, surrounding me," Beowulf commented as Sonic, Honey and the Raiju ninjas began to charge at him. "But, your efforts are futile," All of a sudden, Beowulf unleashed an electrical discharge out of himself, sending the four Mobians flying.

"What?!" Knuckles said in surprise.

"Honey!" Geoffrey cried out as Sonic, Honey and the Raiju ninjas hit the ground.

"It's useless to oppose me," Beowulf boasted as Sonic, Honey and the Raiju ninjas got back up on their feet. "With my powers and the Sol Emeralds', all of you stand no chance against me,"

"I wonder about that!" Axel lunged towards Beowulf and swung his weapon. Beowulf blocked the attack and the two began pushing against each other. "Like Knuckles said, you're just being full of yourself!"

"Indeed?" replied Beowulf. "Inferior beings such as you have no right to say such things to me!" Beowulf pushed Axel away and landed a swift punch on Axel's gut, causing the latter to open his mouth.

"Power is everything!" Beowulf repeatedly beat Axel with his fists. "And I shall carve these words into those who oppose me by trampling them until they are obliterated from the face of the Earth!" As Beowulf finished speaking, Beowulf punched Axel with a flaming fist. The impact of his fist caused a small explosion which injured Axel and sent him rolling onto the ground.

"Axel!" a few of the Mobians cried out.

"Are you alright?" Alfimi quickly went to Axel as he struggled to get up.

"Mister Axel, please don't force yourself!" Cream went towards Axel and helped him to sit up on the ground. Cheese was holding onto Cream's shoulder. Cream turned to Beowulf and gave him a serious look.

"You are so mean! Mister Axel was once your friend! How could you turn against him and hurt him so badly?!"

"Like I said, that is no longer my concern. Then again, the concept of friendship is foolish. Friendship is merely a word used by the weak in order to cling onto each other in times of despair. The only thing that matters is power alone,"

"You're wrong!" Cream angrily retorted at Beowulf. "Friends are important to people! They help you in times of trouble and comfort you in times of need! Why would you say that friendship is bad?!"

"Cream…" Axel looked at the little Mobian with slight surprise.

"I have no intention of answering such a foolish question," Beowulf replied crudely. "Only fools will adopt the belief that friendship is an important thing,"

"Then, we'll just have to prove otherwise to you right now! Let's go, Cheese!" Cheese flew towards Beowulf with Cream following him.

"Cream, wait!" Blaze called out. "It's dangerous to fight him alone!"

"We've got to help Cream!" Sally ran towards Beowulf.

"Ah'm with yer, Sal!" Bunnie flew next to Sally. Blaze followed Sally and Bunnie from behind. While the three Mobians moved, Axel slowly got back up onto his feet. At the same time, Cream and Cheese reached Beowulf and were about to land a blow on him.

"As I have said…" Beowulf spoke. "…it's useless to oppose me!" With one arm, Beowulf swept Cream and Cheese aside, sending them flying. The force of Beowulf's attack was such that not only were the two seriously injured, they were knocked unconscious. Everyone began to widen their eyes in shock.

"Cream!" Blaze shouted as she witnessed Cream and Cheese falling to the ground. Bunnie quickly grabbed them and brought them down to the ground safely. Everyone then gathered around the two to check on their condition.

"Cream, are you alright?!" Sally tried to wake Cream up. "Please say something!"

"How horrible," Axel spoke, his voice a mixture of shock and anger. Looking at Beowulf, he added, "Beowulf, I knew you were a monster from the start. But, to hurt a child just like that… You have definitely become the worst!"

"I was merely showing the consequences of opposing me," Beowulf said without remorse. "That child was foolish to charge at me alone," Blaze began to glare at the Einst.

"Foolish?" She walked towards the front of the group. "It's true that she did something dangerous. However, she did so to prove her conviction," Blaze's eyes then widened in anger. "Don't you dare look down on her as if she was inferior!"

"Such foolish words," Beowulf gloated. "As if a frail child can prove the thing called 'convictions',"

"You bastard…" Lightning's right hand crackled with electricity. "To speak like that even after committing such a heinous act…" Stepping forward, Lightning continued, his voice seething with anger, "You shall be put to death!"

"Calm down," Storm's words caused Lightning's anger to be replaced with surprise. The electricity on his hand disappeared at that moment. "But, Storm…" Lightning said as everyone looked at her.

"That is enough," Storm spoke in a calm yet serious tone as she walked forward. Stopping next to Blaze, her head was slightly bowed down and her eyes were obscured by her hat. For a short moment, everything was quiet.

"You said that power is everything, correct?" Storm spoke to Beowulf.

"Indeed I had," said Beowulf. "What of it?"

"Beowulf… I must agree that your ideology is correct," Storm's reply surprised the group.

"Well, isn't this interesting," Beowulf said with a sinister undertone in his voice. "To think that one of you will be like-minded with me,"

"That's not true!" Sally exclaimed. "Storm is not like you! I had seen her show kindness with my own eyes! She is not to be associated with the likes of you-" Storm raised her hand causing Sally to stop speaking. Despite the latter's surprise, she did not say anything further.

"Once, I followed a similar ideology as yours," Storm continued talking to Beowulf. "That power was everything and nothing else was of importance. Without power, you cannot fulfill your greatest desires, let alone becoming strong,"

"For a long time, I had fought under that belief. Those who did not share it with me were exiled from my clan by my hand. Such was the way of my clan in the past,"

"However, I discovered a flaw in my ideology. At one point, I became absorbed into my own strength. As a result, I committed an atrocious act which nearly cost me the honor of my clan as well as the person most dear to me," Some members of the group were surprised by Storm's words. Lightning had a look of concern on his face.

"What are you getting at?" asked Beowulf.

"There is no wrong in obtaining and exercising power," Storm said. "However, the moment you are consumed by it, you will lose yourself and commit wrongs that are potentially irreversible. That is what you are currently doing,"

"But, not only have you allowed yourself to be driven by power, you even went to the extent of hurting a pure-hearted child without remorse. And for that, you…" Storm raised her head and gave Beowulf a death glare. "…shall be judged,"

"If you say that you will carve your ideology into anyone who opposes you, then, I shall say this-For the sake of my clan, my comrades and the people of this world, we will break your twisted beliefs and put an end to your madness!"

"That is very well said," A voice rang across the clearing, surprising everyone including Beowulf.

"Who said that?" Rotor asked. Suddenly, the Sol Emeralds in Blaze's possession began to glow a white light and flew out of her coat. The emeralds floated in the air, forming a circle in front of the group.

"What?" Beowulf looked intently at the emeralds.

"What's going on?" Honey asked.

"I can sense your will to fight your current adversary," A voice spoke from the emeralds to the group. "Though your will is impressive, that alone is not enough to defeat your enemy,"

"Wait a second," Bunnie spoke. "Just who are you?"

"That's right," the voice replied. "I should make myself present to every one of you," The emeralds began to shine a bright light. The group shielded their eyes from it while Beowulf looked at the light itself. When the light faded, the group looked at the emeralds and witnessed something unexpected.

Standing in front of the Sol Emeralds was a being which looked very similar to Beowulf except that it was grey in color and had a pair of angelic wings. It's back was facing the emeralds and it looked at Beowulf.

"You…" Beowulf's voice was slowly filled with surprise. "Impossible! It can't be!"

"We meet again," the Beowulf lookalike said to the original Beowulf. "My other half,"


	18. Chapter 17

The Hagane, Hiryu Kai and Personal Troopers were struggling against the Einst Hydraloid. The more they attacked the Einst, the fiercer the Einst retaliated. In the middle of the battle, the SRX Team combined their Personal Troopers to form the SRX Super Robot. Mai fired the ART-1's Boosted Rifle at the Hydraloid. In response, the Hydraloid knocked the ART-1 aside with one of it's heads, causing Mai to scream a little.

"Mai!" Ryusei called out as he saw the ART-1. "Why you…!" The SRX faced the Hydraloid and gathered energy in one hand. The SRX then charged towards the Hydraloid and landed a powerful punch on one part of it's body.

"Zine Knuckle!" After punching the Einst, the SRX quickly flew towards the ART-1. While it did, the wound left on the Hydraloid by the SRX regenerated slowly.

"If that Einst keeps healing itself, this fight will never end!" Bullet remarked.

"The situation is getting dire as we speak," Shu stated. "In the worst case scenario, we will have to retreat,"

"There's no way we're going to do that!" Ryusei exclaimed. "Right now, Sonic and his friends are doing their best to protect Riksent! We got to do the same even if it means exhausting ourselves!"

"Though that sounds reckless, I can't say I dislike what you just said, Ryusei," Raidese agreed.

"I agree with Ryusei too!" Katina said. "No way we're going to run away until we see that this is over!"

"Despite our dire circumstances, I agree that we must still keep fighting," said Tetsuya. "Not only for Riksent's sake but for our friends' as well," Tetsuya then added with his voice brimming with determination, "All units, let us fight until the very end!"

(scene change)

The Mobians, Axel and Alfimi were surprised at what they're currently seeing. Not only were the Sol Emeralds floating in front of them but, a being similar to Beowulf appeared as well. As everyone looked at the Quasi-Beowulf, Cream and Cheese slowly woke up.

"Yer awake!" Bunnie spoke to Cream and Cheese. "Thank goodness! Are you two alright?"

"I'm okay…" Cream replied as Cheese sat on her shoulder. She then looked at Quasi-Beowulf and pointed at him. "Who is that?"

"You!" Beowulf spoke to Quasi-Beowulf, his voice filled with shock. "You were supposed to have been destroyed by my hand!"

"Indeed," replied Quasi-Beowulf. "But, you did not destroy me completely. Hence, I am able to return,"

"Um… Care to explain what's going on here?" Sonic asked Quasi-Beowulf. Quasi-Beowulf began turning around to face the group. "A pleasure to meet all of you in person," he then greeted them. "Especially you, Princess Blaze,"

"How do you know my name?" Blaze became surprised.

"I shall explain that later," replied Quasi-Beowulf. "More importantly, I have come to aid you in your fight against Beowulf,"

"How exactly are you going to do so?" Elias asked.

"I am going to restore the Sol Emeralds' powers," The group became astounded over this news.

"Restore them?" Knuckles asked. "How?"

"By transferring a portion of my powers into the emeralds," replied Quasi-Beowulf. "Right now my strength is not enough to face Beowulf. If I am to fight him head on, I will be defeated. However, this is the least I can do in assisting all of you,"

"Wait," Axel gave Quasi-Beowulf a serious look. "You haven't told us who you are yet. Until you do so, I cannot trust your words," Quasi-Beowulf gave a soft chuckle. "Cautious as always, aren't you? Axel," he then said.

"You know my name?" Axel asked.

"Axel," Alfimi spoke. "I think we can trust him,"

"Why would you say that?" Axel said.

"I sense something about him… I can't tell what it is but, I just feel that he can be trusted. Like a friend,"

"I can understand if all of you are wary of me," said Quasi-Beowulf. "But, I promise you- Once all this is over, I will explain all that you desire to know. There is no time to waste. I shall now grant you my aid," Quasi-Beowulf reached his hand out towards the emeralds. Streams of colorful energy began flowing out of his hand into the emeralds.

"It matters not what you are doing," Beowulf spoke to his twin. "If you intend to oppose me…" Conjuring a large ball of purplish energy with one hand, he added, "…I shall destroy you!" Beowulf then hurled the ball towards Quasi-Beowulf. Seeing this, Blaze and Storm quickly went in front of Quasi-Beowulf.

"Fire Ball!"

"Raikodan!"

Blaze and Storm launched a fireball and a lightning blast respectively to intercept the energy ball, causing it to explode. As the smoke from the explosion settled, the Sol Emeralds began to glow in each of it's respective colors.

"Beowulf," Blaze spoke. "I will not allow you to hurt anyone else. And for that purpose, we will defeat you!"

"I second that," Sonic moved next to Blaze. "Especially after what Beowulf here did to Cream and Cheese,"

"That's right," Sally stood next to Storm. "We can't afford to lose here. Our friends are fighting their hardest right now. And so shall we!" Hearing the Mobians' words, Quasi-Beowulf lowered his hand. At this, the Sol Emeralds began to hover in front of Blaze.

"I've failed to thwart your ambitions once," Quasi-Beowulf spoke to his evil twin. "But, now, I shall pass on that duty to the Mobians," Quasi-Beowulf then placed a hand on Blaze's head. "Do give my other half a scare will you, princess?" He added in a slightly joking manner. With that, Beowulf's twin vanished back into the emeralds. The rest of the group then joined Sonic, Blaze, Storm and Sally.

"So, the emeralds have been restored to their former glory," Beowulf spoke. "However, that does not change the fact that none of you shall oppose me,"

"Is that so?" Blaze replied. The Sol Emeralds started to circle Blaze. "How about trying to say that…" A smile crept across Blaze's face. "…after I do this?"

Suddenly, the emeralds shone brightly. The light from the emeralds began to envelop Blaze and lifted her up. The light then turned into a blazing sphere which covered her. Soon, the sphere disappeared instantly revealing a transformed Blaze. Blaze was now enveloped in a fiery aura, with the emeralds floating around her. As she hovered in the air, Blaze looked at Beowulf with a determined smile on her face.

Seeing Blaze's appearance, the group had mixed reactions. Lightning was awed by Blaze's transformation. Honey looked more excited than she normally would be.

"Oh, my," Geoffrey remarked, a look of wonder on his face.

"What is that form?" Axel asked, his eyes slightly wide open.

"Is that all you are doing?" Beowulf asked Blaze. "Changing your appearance just to fight me?" The moment Beowulf finished speaking, Blaze flew towards Beowulf's back at an incredible speed. This slightly surprised Beowulf.

"It's not just my appearance," Blaze said. "My powers have undergone a change as well!" Summoning a fireball with one hand, Blaze hurled it towards Beowulf at point blank range. The Einst blocked the attack and was pushed back slightly by the force of Blaze's attack.

"She's fast!" Elias exclaimed. Before Beowulf could do anything, Blaze quickly flew towards his back once more. Gathering flames in her hands, she slammed them into Beowulf's back causing an explosion which pushed the Einst aback. Blaze then regrouped with her friends. While she did, she noticed something about Beowulf.

Two burn marks were seen on Beowulf's back. Normally, such injuries would be instantly healed given Beowulf's nature. However, the marks remained there. It was as if Beowulf was not healing himself. At this, a realization came to Blaze's mind.

"Beowulf," Blaze spoke with confidence. "I now know your weakness,"

"What do you mean?" Axel asked as the group looked at Blaze.

"It's true that Beowulf has the ability to regenerate any wounds he suffers," Blaze replied as Beowulf turned around to face the group. "Coupled with the fact that he has the Sol Emeralds' powers, he is a force to be reckoned with. However, the moment I used the emeralds' powers on him, I realized that Beowulf is susceptible to one thing. And that is the emeralds' powers themselves,"

"I think I get what Blaze means," Nicole spoke from her handheld. "She is saying that Beowulf's regeneration capabilities will be nullified if he were to receive an attack that is imbued with the Sol Emeralds' powers. Simply put, we are to fight fire with fire,"

"But, if that's true, we have to rely on her to defeat Beowulf," Tails said. "Blaze is the only one wielding their powers right now!"

"No worries," Blaze smiled. "I have a plan," Gesturing for everyone to gather around her, Blaze quickly explained something which only the group could hear.

"To think that I would be injured…" Beowulf said to the group. "It appears that I have underestimated you. If that is the case…" Beowulf then enveloped his hands in fire. "…I shall destroy all of you!" Beowulf then unleashed a large trail of fire which flew towards the group.

"Heads up, everyone!" Sonic said as everyone readied themselves to fight. "He's coming at us!" Seeing Beowulf's attack, Blaze intercepted it with a wave of flames. The result was a large explosion which clouded both the group's and Beowulf's view of each other. Despite that, the group charged at Beowulf.

Axel and Knuckles ran ahead of the group and rammed into the Einst, pushing him back. As the duo pushed the Einst, the rest of the group circled around Beowulf.

"Such an attack won't work on me!" Beowulf said to Axel and Knuckles.

"Yeah, but, how about this?!" At Knuckles' words, a Sol Emerald popped up from behind him and Axel and floated next to them. To Beowulf's surprise, the emeralds glowed causing Axel and Knuckles to become enveloped in an aura.

"What?!"

"Take this!" Axel shouted as he and Knuckles swung their fists towards Beowulf. Their fists caused an explosion upon coming into contact with the Einst's body.

"Byakko Ko!"

"Fire Blow!"

Axel and Knuckles' respective attacks pushed Beowulf further aback. "You're using the emeralds powers against me?!" Beowulf then shouted. "Unacceptable! Their powers belong to me alone!" Beowulf conjured multiple vines out of the ground which lashed out at Axel and Knuckles. The duo quickly evaded them by rolling to the side.

"Well, not anymore, pal!" Sonic said as he and Honey jumped towards Beowulf from behind. Beowulf turned around and called upon more vines which grabbed the two Mobians and flung them aside. Fortunately, Bunnie and Geoffrey flew towards and caught Sonic and Honey respectively.

"Hey, Beowulf! Try this on for size!" Beowulf turned towards Amy who charged at him with her hammer. A Sol Emerald was floating next to the Piko Piko Hammer, imbuing it with energy. As Amy jumped and swung her hammer towards the Einst, it became enveloped in an aura resembling a gigantic version of it.

"Piko Piko Crusher!" Beowulf quickly defended himself with one arm. As Amy's attack connected, she and Beowulf ended up pushing against each other. In the process, the armor covering Beowulf's arm was slowly being cracked by Amy's attack.

"Antoine, now!" Amy hollered past Beowulf.

"With pleasure, mon amie!" Antoine ran towards Beowulf, another Sol Emerald floating next to him. "And now to do something which is inspired by Monsieur Sanger..." Antoine jumped towards Beowulf, sword in hand. At that moment, Amy quickly jumped away to safety.

"Chesto!" Antoine swung his sword which was imbued with Sol Emerald energy at Beowulf. He slashed past Beowulf, inflicting a massive injury on the Einst's body.

(scene change)

Back at the Hagane's side, the Einst Hydraloid ceased attacking all of a sudden. It seemed to be giving out a loud roar of anguish causing everyone to wonder what was going on.

"What's going on?" Bullet asked.

"It's like the Einst appears to be in pain…" stated Kusuha.

"The enemy appears to have been weakened," Shu remarked. "This is our chance for us to turn the tides,"

"All units, focus all fire on the enemy!"

"Roger!" Hearing Tetsuya's announcement, most of the Personal Troopers charged towards the Hydraloid and attacked it continuously. The Hydraloid retaliated but not as fierce as it did previously.

"Our attacks appear to be working!" Joshua encouraged everyone. "We can do this!"

(scene change)

At the Mobians' side, Beowulf sensed something amiss as he fought the group. "No, it can't be!" Beowulf spoke to himself. "My creation! It is being overwhelmed!" While Beowulf was speaking, Sally jumped towards the Einst and prepared to attack with her Ring Blades. Beowulf however, grabbed Sally by the neck.

"Sally!" Elias cried out.

"You ****ed Mobian!" Beowulf cocked his other hand backwards. "DIE!" The Einst thrust his hand towards Sally. Sally responded by quickly inserting a Power Ring into her handheld, calling out Nicole. Nicole then created a green energy barrier with her hands to shield Sally. Beowulf's hand broke through the barrier, knocking Sally and Nicole aback.

"I will not accept this!" Beowulf spoke defiantly. "To be overwhelmed by inferior beings like you! I will not ACCEPT THIS!" Beowulf launched a lightning bolt towards Sally and Nicole who just got up on their feet. Storm quickly dashed towards the two Mobians and defended against the attack. The Raiju ninja grunted softly as she took the brunt of it.

"Storm!" Sally exclaimed.

"Storm!" Lightning cried out upon seeing his wife being injured. Looking at Beowulf, he said angrily, "You'll pay for this!" Lightning proceeded to charge a large amount of electricity in one hand. While he did so, Tails, Rotor and Elias moved towards Sally, Nicole and Storm. The former then fired their weapons at Beowulf to which the Einst responded by shielding himself with an ice wall.

"Shin Raikodan!*" Lightning unleashed a massive lightning blast at Beowulf. The blast turned into a cat's head which obliterated Beowulf's defense and knocked him aback.

[*Japanese. Roughly meaning True Thunder Cat Bullet]

"Storm!" Lightning quickly ran towards his wife. "Are you alright? Please do not put yourself in danger!"

"I am fine," replied Storm. "More importantly, let us finish this battle,"

"Agreed," said Blaze who flew towards Storm. "Let's end this," Everyone began to regroup and face Beowulf. Blaze had the Sol Emeralds return to her side.

"How can this be?!" Beowulf boomed out loud in rage. "I, who have assimilated the Sol Emeralds' powers, and in turn became superior, am being surpassed by the likes of you!?"

"Face it, Beowulf," Sonic said. "Sure, the emeralds may have given you tons of juices to power you up. But, Blaze here told us that we can share their powers with her and use them against you,"

"Silence!" Beowulf replied angrily. "Why is it that you inferior beings are able to overcome me?! You are the ones who should have been decimated by my hand!"

"Well, big ol' Beowulf here's throwing a tantrum," Sonic joked with his friends.

"It's not nice to get angry," Big said to Beowulf.

"Enough of your nonsense!" shouted Beowulf. "Are you trying to mock me?"

"Mock you?" Nicole stated. "On the contrary, we're just giving our opinions about you. In fact, I will tell you the reason that you are losing this fight. It is not because you are weak. Indeed, you are strong. But, you lack one thing that we have. And that is the thing called bonds,"

"Bonds, you say?"

"Unlike you who exercised your power alone, we worked together to defeat you. Despite knowing how dreadful you were, we still pressed on in order to seize a better tomorrow. To put things simply, it is because of the friendship that we share that we are able to overcome you,"

"So, if you want to say that friendship is a foolish concept which you had told Cream earlier, you're wrong!"

"Bravo, luv," Geoffrey smiled at Nicole's words. "Quite an impressive speech you made there," Looking at Beowulf, he added, "So, mate, are you still thinking that friendship is a bad thing right now? Because if you are, all I can say…" A look of forlorn emerged on Geoffrey's face. "…is that I pity you,"

"What?" Beowulf responded.

"From what I'm seeing so far, all you just think of is to destroy everything around you. Or should I say to kill every living being in front of you. I know because to a certain extent, I was once like you, mate,"

"It felt invigorating at first. But, then, there are consequences," Geoffrey looked as if he was revisiting the past. "And some of them… can never be fixed. So, let me ask you, mate, is this what you really want to do?"

"Hold on, Geoffrey," said Elias. "Are you sympathizing with our enemy?"

"I'm not saying this because I sympathize with Beowulf, mate," said Geoffrey. "Still, it's sad isn't it? To only think of destroying everything and in turn, failing to cherish what is truly important to you,"

"Such words are meaningless!" retorted Beowulf. "Bonds? Friendship? Sympathy? All these are for the weak! All that matters is strength and glory alone! If all of you refuse to accept this, then, behold!" Beowulf clasped his hands together. Suddenly, a dark aura began to emerge from Beowulf's body and flared like a raging flame.

"What's going on?" Rotor asked.

"Be on your guard!" Blaze said. "He's trying to do something!"

"Foolish mortals!" Beowulf's voice turned into a mixture of malevolence and distortion. "You shall perish HERE!"


	19. Chapter 18

The Hagane and it's company were able to turn the tide against the Einst Hydraloid. Slowly but surely, the Personal Troopers were weakening the Einst and were close to defeating it. Just when the Hydraloid was about to be defeated though, black smoke began to envelop it. The Einst then turned into a large black sphere of energy which flew away from everyone.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Katina exclaimed.

"Captain Tetsuya, we're detecting a massive energy surge a few miles away from us!" Adzuki informed Tetsuya.

"Where's the location?" asked Tetsuya.

"It's…" A look of surprise slowly appeared on Adzuki's face. "It's at one of the forest clearings next to Riksent. That's where Sonic and his friends are at!"

(scene change)

The Mobians, Axel and Alfimi watched in surprise as Beowulf continued emanating his aura. At the same time, a large black sphere flew towards Beowulf and engulfed him causing his aura to further intensify. It was so intense that a gust of wind blew from where Beowulf stood at.

"What's happening?" Sally asked while everyone shielded themselves from the wind. As the wind continued to blow, Alfimi began to feel a sense of dread.

"Axel…"

"What's wrong, Alfimi?" Axel asked.

"This feeling…" spoke Alfimi. "Something's coming… It feels… too familiar…"

"Everyone, look! Beowulf's getting away!" True to Tail's words, Beowulf turned into a black sphere and flew off causing the wind to stop blowing. At this, Blaze cancelled her transformation and turned back to normal. The Sol Emeralds remained levitating around her.

"We must give chase," Quasi-Beowulf spoke from within the emeralds, his voice sounding disturbed. "I fear that something terrible is about to occur,"

"Alright," Sally said. "Come on, everyone!" The group then ran towards where they had left the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit. The three machines lifted off and pursued Beowulf. Soon, they were hovering above Riksent.

Facing the Sky Patrol and it's company was the black sphere which Beowulf had turned into. It was crackling with electricity and remained stationary in the air. A distorted and malevolent voice came out from it and resounded throughout the kingdom of Riksent.

"Foolish mortals… You will regret opposing me… Now, witness… my true form…"

"True form?" A look of curiosity surfaced on Axel's face. To everyone's surprise, the sphere began to expand at a rapid rate casting a shadow over Riksent. Princess Shine and the soldiers stationed around the kingdom looked up at the sky. Most of the soldiers displayed a mixture of surprise and alarm while Shine looked worried.

"Nicole, get us out of here!" Sally said to Nicole who was projected from the bridge's terminal.

"It's too late! We can't move away in time!" Nicole said as the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit were engulfed by the sphere.

"Alfimi!" Axel called out. Hearing her name being called out, Alfimi had the Personlichkeit summon two familiars. The two familiars conjured an energy barrier which shielded the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and itself. Suddenly, the three machines began to rumble violently. In response, their occupants braced themselves.

"Something's happening!" Cream said.

"Such force!" Lightning exclaimed. "What could our enemy be planning to do?!"

"Call the others!" Axel said.

"I can't," Nicole said, her face showing shock.

"What do you mean?!"

"I just tried to establish communications with the Hagane and the Hiryu Kai but, I can't reach them. Our communications have been shut off!"

(scene change)

Tetsuya and his group could not believe what they were currently seeing. They had arrived at Riksent's shore only to find that a black sphere was engulfing the whole kingdom. In the midst of this, the Hagane tried to establish communications with the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit.

"Are you able to reach them?" Tetsuya asked his crew members.

"We can't!" Eita said. "Something's preventing us from getting to Sonic and his friends!"

"We also can't contact Axel and Alfimi!" said Adzuki.

"Could it be that anomaly is causing this?" Tetsuya gazed at the sphere.

"That thing's getting bigger as we speak!" Katina said. "We got to go in there and get to them!"

"We cannot do that," Shu spoke seriously.

"Why not?!" Katina replied while sounding slightly impatient.

"There is no telling what is occurring inside that anomaly. If we are to head in there, we could put ourselves in greater danger than we may expect,"

"But, we can't just sit here doing nothing!" said Ryusei.

"Everyone, look! Something's happening!" Kusuha pointed out towards Riksent. The sphere had completely engulfed Riksent. Suddenly, in an instant, it shrunk and disappeared. To everyone's astonishment, it was not just the sphere that disappeared.

The entire kingdom had vanished along with the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit.

(scene change)

The Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit were still above Riksent. However, their surroundings had changed. In place of the blue sky is a purplish space filled with white stars. There were also purplish white crystals floating around the space. Shine and the soldiers stared at their surroundings. The kingdom's citizens did the same through the windows of their homes.

"Where are we?" Tails asked as the Mobians, Axel and Alfimi looked at the alien surroundings.

"This is the realm called Einst Space," Quasi-Beowulf said to the group. "Only Einst which possess immense power can conjure this realm,"

"Are you saying that we've been sent to a different world?" asked Sally.

"Yes, and at the same time, no," answered Quasi-Beowulf. "However, the main point is that there is only one kind of Einst which is capable of such a feat,"

"One kind of Einst?" Axel came to a grim realization. "You can't possibly mean-"

"Yes," Quasi-Beowulf's tone turned serious. "I am referring to the being called the Einst Regisseur," As Quasi-Beowulf finished speaking, Alfimi began to sense an ominous presence.

"Axel…" her voice was calm yet cautious. "It's coming…" Soon, descending from above the group was a gigantic Einst which bore similar resemblance to Beowulf. It sported the same biomechanical armor donned by Beowulf. However, it's right arm was oversized and had claws. It's left arm was the Hydraloid's eight heads which hissed menacingly. The Einst's body had several orange colored polyps and on it's back were multiple green vines that slowly waved around in the air.

"What in ze name of Mobius is zat abomination?!" Antoine exclaimed as the giant Einst towered over the group. Shine stared at the Einst while the soldiers aimed their guns at the Einst from below.

"I am Einst Beowulf Regisseur, the bringer of the end," the giant Einst introduced itself. "Your lives shall end here,"

"To think that my other half would achieve this form," spoke Quasi-Beowulf. "One that would endanger the existence of many worlds,"

"You just called Beowulf your other half again," Blaze said. "I have been meaning to ask but, exactly what is your relationship with our enemy?"

"Yeah, is he like your brother or something?" Sonic spoke to the Sol Emeralds.

"This is not the time to inquire about that," Axel said seriously. "Beowulf is in front of us! We can learn more about that after this battle-"

"Axel," Quasi-Beowulf cut Axel off causing the latter to be slightly surprised. "It's alright," Despite Axel's surprise, he decided not to say anything further.

"I was hoping that I would be able to explain everything after this battle," added Quasi-Beowulf. "However, given the current situation, it appears I should do so now,"

"Please tell us," Sally said as the Mobians looked at the Sol Emeralds. "Just who exactly are you?" Everyone including Beowulf, Axel and Alfimi began to listen to Quasi-Beowulf's words.

"On the day of my defeat, my body became destroyed. However, my consciousness remained intact and was split into two halves. The first half represented benevolence. The other half represented malevolence. For a long time, the two halves were in conflict with each other. In the end, the malevolent half prevailed and took over my consciousness. The result was the rebirth of Beowulf,"

"Though my evil half resided within my body, my subconscious remained uncorrupted. In my subconscious, I bided my time waiting for the right moment to make my move. It was when Beowulf discovered the Sol Emeralds that I decided to do so. Using what little power that remained in me at that time, I transferred my subconscious into the emeralds. In addition, I implemented into them one duty-Should Beowulf ever tamper with the emeralds, they are to call upon those capable of stopping him,"

"That means the reason we were brought into this world was-" Elias spoke as he came to a realization.

"Yes, it was I," spoke Quasi-Beowulf. "After I entered the emeralds, I remained dormant in them. During my period of dormancy, my powers began to recover albeit at a slow pace. At the same time, I had been watching over all of you. From the time that Beowulf began absorbing the emeralds' powers to the time that all of you fought against him,"

"The moment your young friend was injured by my other half, I saw in your hearts the strong desire to defeat Beowulf. It was that desire that led me to being revived with enough power to assist all of you,"

"To put things simply," Quasi-Beowulf added. "I am Beowulf. But, at the same time, I am not. I am merely a reflection of my former self," "

"Whether you believe my words or not, is your choice. But, I will say this-I wish to put an end to the ambitions of my other half. It is for that purpose that I did what I deemed necessary. However, I too would like to apologize especially to you, Princess Blaze. In a sense, I had dragged you and your friends out of your world all so as to fulfill my wish," For a moment, the Mobians, Axel and Alfimi pondered over Quasi-Beowulf's words.

"We will talk more about this later," Axel then said. "For now, our main priority is to defeat our enemy,"

"I agree as well," Sally turned towards her friends. "What do you all think though?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're all in this together. Right, guys?" The Mobians nodded in agreement to Sonic's words.

"Then, it's settled," Axel smiled. Looking at Beowulf, he added with a serious tone, "Beowulf, I always thought you were a madman who became lost in power. But, now, I think that you are suffering. You're suffering because of the conflict that occurred between the two sides of your consciousness. If putting an end to your ambitions will relieve you of your suffering, then let's put an end to this, once and for all!"

"Suffering you say?" Beowulf replied. "That word holds no meaning to me,"

"Tell us," Alfimi said to Beowulf with a concerned tone. "Are you really intent on destroying all that lies in front of you?"

"No matter what words you say, my convictions will never change," Beowulf replied seriously. "And this is my proof!" Beowulf conjured a ball of black smoke and hurled it down at Riksent. The smoke began to envelop Riksent and clouded Shine and the soldiers' vision. It even seeped into the homes of the citizens.

"What's going on?!" Axel spoke in surprise.

"Guys, you might want to look at this!" Nicole projected an image of Riksent. To everyone's shock, the soldiers of the kingdom were lying on the ground and appeared to be in pain. Shine was kneeling on the ground and felt uncomfortable. The citizens were coughing and falling unconscious in their homes.

"What is this?" Blaze asked.

"What have you done?" Quasi-Beowulf asked his twin.

"I am depleting the life force of the people residing in this kingdom," said Beowulf. "Soon, their lives will end and after that, I shall destroy this kingdom along with all the people in it,"

"This can't be…" Sally spoke as everyone became horrified.

"Is there no end to your cruelty?!" Lightning shouted at Beowulf. "Have you no compassion at all?!"

"Yeah! There are women and children down there! How can you do this?!" Honey said.

"Enough talk!" shouted Beowulf. "All that matters is to kill and destroy everything in my path!" Hearing this, Sally bowed her head down. Her eyes were covered by a black shadow. "Unforgivable," she then muttered. Lifting her head up, Sally's eyes began to look resolute.

"Nicole, deploy all of the Sky Patrol's weapons. Our target… is Beowulf,"

"Understood," Nicole had the Sky Patrol deploy all of it's weapons. At the same time, Axel and Alfimi prepared to fight.

"Freedom Fighters, charge!" At Sally's words, the Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit charged at Beowulf. The Sky Patrol fired it's arsenal of weapons at the gigantic Einst. In response, the Hydraloid's heads lashed out and blocked the Sky Patrol's attacks. They then charged at the group.

The Sky Patrol, Soulgain and Personlichkeit began to dodge Beowulf's attack. However, one of the heads managed to quickly hit the ship by the side causing it to slowly go down. Smoke came out from the part of the Sky Patrol that was damaged.

"We have received significant damage! The ship is going down!" Nicole exclaimed as the Mobians braced themselves. At the same time, the bridge's alarm began blaring.

"Get us back on course!" Rotor said. No sooner had the Sky Patrol began to rise up than Beowulf launched several vines towards it. Seeing this, Axel and Alfimi quickly moved in front of the Sky Patrol.

"Seiryurin!" Axel had the Soulgain fire a surge of energy out of it's hands to intercept the vines. Alfimi had her machine's familiars fire energy blasts towards the vines. As Axel and Alfimi's attacks disintegrated the vines, more vines suddenly came in and wrapped themselves around the group's machines.

"What?!" Axel became surprised as his machine along with the Sky Patrol and Personlichkeit were rendered immobile.

"You cannot hope to defeat me," Beowulf mocked. "The moment I attained this form, my abilities have vastly improved," The polyps on Beowulf's body began to glow a faint light. At the same time, Beowulf's faceplate opened, revealing a monstrous mouth. Beowulf began gathering energy at his mouth and the polyps.

"And now…" Beowulf spoke menacingly. "Be destroyed!" The situation was now grim for the Freedom Fighters and their company. Not only were they unable to move, but, they were going to be obliterated by Beowulf's next attack.

"Zis cannot be…" Antoine looked as if he was falling into despair. "Is zis the end for us?" Inside the Sol Emeralds, Quasi-Beowulf could feel everyone's fear and concern about the current turn of events. Bowing his head down, he clasped his hands as if he was in prayer.

"Oh, almighty one who watches over us," Quasi-Beowulf spoke softly. "Though I am once a being who committed horrifying sins and in turn, do not have the right to ask for your help, please spare the Mobians and their friends. If anyone's lives are to be taken now, it shall be mine alone," As soon as Quasi-Beowulf finished praying, a bright white light enveloped him.

"This is…"


End file.
